From barmaid to comedy, Sally says: ‘I’ve always been obsessed with police drama’
There’s nothing better than a twisty thriller – like Channel 5’s new offering, Intruder. Georgia Humphreys hears more from star Sally Lindsay.
For the first time in her career, Sally Lindsay is playing a police officer. And it is a role the former Coronation Street star, 47, has absolutely relished.
Intruder is her second collaboration with director/ writer Gareth Tunley (they also worked together on Cold Call, which was Channel 5’s first original drama).
The series, a gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller about cover-ups, corruption and murder, follows affluent, high-flying married couple Rebecca (Elaine Cassidy) and Sam (Tom Meeten) whose lives are shattered after a break-in by two local teenagers at their luxurious coastal house.
Family Liaison Officer Bailey becomes embroiled in the ensuing investigation, as it transpires there is a lot more going on than meets the eye and she has a fascinating character progression over the four episodes.
“She’s a character that I based on my mum,” says Stockport-born Lindsay, who spent five years on the Weatherfield cobbles as barmaid Shelley Unwin.
“Bailey is an FSO, which is a very underrated cog in the police machine, in the fact that they are the only people that have contact with the families and they know exactly the relationships and inter-relationships within the family, and my mum is a social worker, and my stepdad is.
“And she used to say, when she walked in a room, after five minutes, she knew what was going on in that family, and they just had to sort of protect either the children or whatever was going on.
“It’s this sort of sixth sense that these amazing people have.”
At first, Bailey is quite a low-key character, but as the drama continues, we see her really honing her skills as a police officer and detective, and Lindsay thought it was “just fantastic that she just really got stronger and stronger and stronger in her own abilities”.
The mum-of-two, who is also known for Sky comedy Mount Pleasant, may not have portrayed a copper before, but she has created a police drama.
She and her former Corrie co-star, Suranne Jones, created ITV hit Scott & Bailey, which ran from 2011 to 2016, together, though Lindsay did not appear in the series.
The friends dreamed up the idea of a show about a female detective duo on a night out, because they both felt that there needed to be more TV roles detailing the lives of professional women in high-powered jobs.
“I’ve always been obsessed with police drama, whether it’s Midsomer Murders, any high end sort of police drama – I love them all,” reflects Lindsay, before revealing she and Gareth have talked about “maybe taking Bailey’s journey on… but I don’t know whether that’s going to happen”.
“I loved playing a copper because I loved just how clever she was, but how understated she was.
“And I think for a female copper, that’s perfect, in a way, that she empowers itself during the eps and realises actually, ‘I’ve got this. I’m better than all you lot’, even though at the start she doesn’t think that at all.”
The latest in a long line of intriguing Channel 5 dramas, Intruder was filmed in Ireland.
And one of the stand-out elements of this series is the details in both the characters and also the setting.
Rebecca and Sam’s house is apparently known as “the toaster house” by locals in real-life, because of its unique shape.
The bespoke self-build is such an interesting space to see on screen, with its incredibly high ceiling and the beach-views.
And thanks to lots of very wide shots used in the series, you feel, as a viewer, like you are being really immersed in the drama – as you would be in theatre.
When this is put to Lindsay, she notes how when bringing a show to life, “Gareth likes the house to be a character as well” (it was the same in Cold Call, she adds).
“It was a sign of Rebecca and Sam’s wealth; it was a sign of their achievement. It was different, it was supposed to be kooky – they were the only people that could have this because they’d made it in life.
“And then this horrific thing happens, which makes them prisoner,” she elaborates of the storyline in Intruder.
“I think it’s really important to Gareth to get that house right to start with.
“What happens in that house, it’s very sort of prison-like and closeting and this huge space is like a trap.”
Shooting took place last autumn and so, as is the case with most shows hitting our screens currently, there were strict Covid-19 guidelines in place for the cst and crew.
“I think we were the only production in Ireland at that time that didn’t stand down,” recalls Lindsay.
“I was staying in this flat in Dublin, which was lovely, but it was near St. Stephen’s place and usually, that’s where it’s all happening and it was just so weird because it was dead.
“But the amazing thing was it was the USA election, so Trump and his shenanigans, that was my entertainment. So that literally kept me sane, because we were so isolated; we couldn’t see each other, we couldn’t talk about the day in the bar afterwards.”
On the topic of lockdown, has she picked up any new hobbies during this past year, while we’ve all been at home?
“We’re genius in finding programmes you can watch with 10 year olds that don’t bore you senseless,” quips the mum-of-two (she is married to drummer Steve White, and they have twin boys, Louie and Victor)
“So, therefore, we’ve gone through Cobra Kai. It’s basically like watching The Karate Kid again every night.”
Chuckling, the vivacious star follows: “Hobbies have been: trying to keep the kids sane, dog walking, trying to drag the kids out on dog walking, trying to play football with two twins when you’re rubbish. One of my favourite hobbies is unstacking the dishwasher and stacking it again.”
Tking a more serious tone, she recognises how grateful she is to have had her job during this difficult time.
“I’ve worked a lot during this lockdown, which has been bizarre, from the first voiceover day under the duvet, and then when we were allowed out, I’ve done a couple of documentaries and stuff.
"We all said that before,
how lucky we are that we managed to film a drama.”
Lindsay's first Tvappearance was at the age of seven on Top of the Pops when her school choir, the St Winifred's School Choir, released There's No One Quite Like Grandma, which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in 1980.
She studied English at the University of Hull, then studied at North Cheshire Theatre School before dabbling in stand up comedy
When she was 24, she met and became friends with comedian Peter Kay. They appeared together in Phoenix Nights and in the video for the Comic Relief single Is This the Way to Amarillo?
After winning the "Best Actress" category in the Inside Soap 2005 Awards, Lindsay announced that she would be leaving Coronation Street at the end of her contract to pursue comedy projects, after playing Shelley for five years. She returned for several episodes in September 2006.
● Intruder starts on Channel 5 on Monday, 9pm