Nina, the BBC’s secret superstar

She may not be familiar to adults, but for eight years Katrina Bryan has played an important role in the lives of her many young fans

SHE stars in one of TV’s most successful shows which has run for nearly a decade and been screened around the world. Loved by millions, she is regularly contacted by legions of fans from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

Yet despite such international fame, Katrina Bryan is hardly a household name, even in her native Scotland.

Her alter-ego, however, is a familiar figure to numerous small children and their parents for whom Nina and the Neurons is unmissable viewing.

For the 35-year-old has been solving a string of science puzzles on the CBeebies channel since 2007 and has most recently completed her tenth series of the hit show. Yet in an interview with The Scottish Mail on Sunday she reveals that it was only a lucky break that enabled her to land the job.

The talented actress also reflects on the unexpected challenges of playing an exuberant, syrupy-sweet ball of energy adored by children all over the world. It means other roles – even involving drugs, gangsters and murder – come as a welcome relief, although taking on anything too risqué or edgy runs the risk of upsetting Nina fans.

In her white coat and bunches, the Kirkcudbrightshire-born star of children’s television has established herself as the easily-identifiable face of the hugely popular educational programme.

Yet had it not been for a little good fortune, she confesses she would never have been offered the part.

Last week, she said: ‘Playing Nina, I’m playing a character who presents a show, but it’s a part of the industry that I never thought I was going to try to go into.

‘When I first went to drama school, I didn’t plan to go into children’s telly. But I kept finding the jobs I was getting were ones related to schools telly or children’s theatre.

‘When Nina came up, my agent was pushing for me to get an audition and told me: “The reason I’m trying to get you in is that I think you would be perfect”.

‘So I looked at the role, and I thought: “I can play that”.

‘But the BBC didn’t want to see me. I think they felt I didn’t fit the idea they had. Then luckily, the BBC phoned my agent and said that somebody had dropped out from the audition – there was one space.’

Later her fellow presenter Andy Day informed her that, even before the casting call, he and a friend had met a team at the network to discuss their involvement i n the then-untitled production that eventually became Nina and the Neurons – so, in fact, the lead character might equally well have been Nathan or Norrie.

Nowadays her many fans would find it hard to imagine the role being played by anyone other than the sparkly daughter of a builder from Gatehouse of Fleet.

She said: ‘When I heard about Nina I knew I could play that character.

‘Nina is a bit like myself – but with the volume and the brightness turned up a bit.

‘Now I absolutely adore CBeebies, it’s like a big family.’

Miss Bryan, who lives in a converted warehouse in Leith, joins a tight production team to film the BAFTA award-winning series aimed at four to six-year-olds.

While shooting is based in Glasgow, Nina can be seen visiting children across the UK and beyond, teaching them about science-related topics and assisted by her animated neurons who represent each of the five senses.

Yet apart from Nina, and despite her undeniable ability to work with little ones and captivate young viewers in a burst of song and colour, her career has not been without its more gritty roles linked to Scotland’s dark underbelly.

In the Edinburgh-based film Night People she played a taxi driver and drugs courier, not to mention a pathologist in an episode of the detective drama Taggart.

Now having ‘carried’ the Neurons since 2007, she speaks of the differences between performing a part she knows well, and working with a wider group of actors exploring new challenges.

‘I love doing Nina,’ she says. ‘But I’ve been doing it for a long time, and the Nina character is not going to change, so when I get to do something else it’s a

‘Me with volume and brightness turned up’

relief for me, or a challenge. Nina is jolly and light but, when it comes to workload, it’s all me – so it can be a relief to go into an ensemble.

‘I know what I’m doing with Nina, and it’s physically demanding because you’re working long hours, but with something like Taggart, because you’re not in every day – I was semi-regular – you’re never super-comfortable and relaxed.

‘You were always a bit nervous, so it meant you had to be more cool. I was just keeping myself calm and trying to enjoy the experience.’

Three years ago, the actress found herself at the centre of controversy when called upon to play a mother in a maternity ward in an Irn-Bru advert.

The decision to name the new-born baby ‘Fanny’ elicited a string of complaints, including many from people disappointed that ‘Nina’ should even utter the word.

‘At the end of the day, I am an actress,’ she sighs. ‘I am not Nina. I was not dressed as Nina, I wasn’t even anything like Nina.

‘It was a light-hearted, tongue-incheek advert with Scottish humour, not connected with CBeebies.’

In another break from her muchloved role, Miss Bryan took to the stage last week in Peter Pan, with EastEnders actor Jake Wood playing Captain Hook.

Playing panto in Hertfordshire, she is relishing the opportunity to be more naughty than Nina, saying: ‘This year’s quite fun, because I’m playing Tinkerbell – and this is the first time that I’m allowed to be a little bit cheeky.

‘For the last nine or ten pantos I’ve done, I’ve either played a nice princess or a lovely fairy, but Tinkerbell is feisty and jealous, so I’m excited about playing her.

‘I’m finding a new level of enjoyment for panto now.

‘The reason I love panto is that it’s about giving people a good time. It’s fun and a chance not to take things too seriously – we just sing wee songs and have a laugh.’

It is her sense of humour and desire to see others enjoy themselves that helps Miss Bryan engage with the children who join her on set for the hit television programme.

She said: ‘Some days, especially if you do the studio side of things, it’s really full-on – they can film twice as much as they do on location, so you do get tired.

‘Some days you’re dragging yourself out of bed, but once you’re in the studio and have a wee bit of banter with the kids...

‘I’m not just as jolly and nice, we have a bit of fun, have a joke, sometimes I’m a wee bit cheeky and make them laugh – that’s not a side I bring out as Nina.

‘I’ve always got to remind myself what a big thing it is for the kids to come into a TV studio – they’re going to be filmed!

‘I let them take their time settling in. Because we’ve been doing it for so long, we’re a really well-oiled machine.

‘I feel I’m so lucky, I love working with BBC Scotland in the children’s department – they do such brilliant shows and they really care for the kids.

‘They genuinely want to make good programmes, although obviously Nina’s very educational and they spend a long time making sure everything we say is correct.’

With such an evident way with children, and now happily in a six-monthold relationship with a man she met through work, is she looking to have some of her own? She admits: ‘I’d quite like to get married.

‘That’s not like a life goal, but it would be nice to do. I’d like to have a family and, for me, getting married is part of that.

‘Being part of a family would be a priority for me. As I am 35, I have to consider that I haven’t got a huge amount of time left, but you can’t force these things if it’s not right for your personal life.

‘You just have to be aware of it. I’m not panicking yet.’

Katrina Bryan is starring in Peter Pan at The Alban Arena in St Albans, Hertfordshire, from December 4 until January 3.