Sarah Parish: ‘Posh? I’m from Somerset!’
Actress Sarah Parish tells us why filming Broadchurch was so upsetting - and why she would love to play a Mistress again…
It’s been a frantic time for Sarah Parish of late. best visited the 48-year-old on the set of Broadchurch, and she’s also filming a new series of the comedy
W1A in London. This means dashing to and from the Hampshire home she shares with her husband, Suspects actor James Murray, 42, and their seven-yearold daughter Nell.
Heartbreakingly, Sarah lost a child before Nell was born. EllaJayne died of a heart complication at eight months old in 2009, and her parents now run the Murray Parish Trust charity in her memory.
Here, the actress talks about her family life, and explains why filming Broadchurch brought back painful memories of her dad…
Sarah, not many people realise you’re a West Country girl. Now you can show off your native
accent in Broadchurch… I know! People always think I’m northern or posh, but I was born in Yeovil [Somerset], which is just up the road from where Broadchurch is filmed. I dropped the accent when I went to drama school in London and it was hard to get it back at first, but then it came quite easily. So you know the local area quite well? Coming back to West Bay [Dorset, where the series is filmed] was very nostalgic for me, and quite sad, because the last time I saw my father alive was in Lyme Regis, just up the road, in 2013. Passing through Yeovil on the way to the Broadchurch set was often quite upsetting – like I was saying goodbye to that time of my life. Tell us about your character, Cath Atwood… Cath is a big fish in a small pond. She was the girl at school who all the boys fancied, and she married the handsome local boy, Jim [Mark Bazeley]. Now, though, she thinks they should be doing a little bit better. She works in a farm shop owned by Ed Burnett [Lenny Henry] with her mate, Trish Winterton [Julie Hesmondhalgh].
The drama kicks off just after Cath’s 50th birthday party, after Trish is raped.
DI Alec Hardy [David Tennant] and DS Ellie Miller [Olivia Colman] investigate Trish’s assault. Where does Cath fit in?
The police interview Cath’s guests because the assault happened on the grounds of the party venue. Cath and Trish have one of those old friendships where Cath is the one in charge. She hangs out with Trish because she knows she’s a little bit better than her.
Broadchurch’s plotlines have always been a closely guarded secret. Have you managed to keep tight-lipped?
All my friends are like, ‘Just tell me – I won’t tell anyone’, but I’m really good at keeping secrets. My husband wasn’t that interested in knowing – probably because he’s not in it! You’ve been super-busy of late. Now you’re working on W1A and are about to film Bancroft, a new ITV Encore drama. How do you juggle work and home life? For the past four years, I’ve taken jobs based near home, because I like to be home for Nell. But I’m about to start 10 weeks in Manchester. I’ve decided I can’t stop taking jobs if they’re bigger roles – and at least it’s not abroad. It will be hard to be away, but Jim will be at home more. You’ve starred in so many great shows, including Cutting It, Mistresses, Atlantis and W1A. Which one do you find people ask you about most? Mistresses resonated with a lot of women – and blokes, too. I used to have big burly butchers going, ‘Oh, I loved you in that.’ All the girls are still close [co-stars Shelley Conn, Sharon Small and Orla Brady], and we’re going out next week. I’d love to do another series. There you go – put that in the magazine!
l Broadchurch series 3 begins on Monday 27 February at 9pm on ITV. For more details of Sarah and James’s charity, visit themurrayparish trust.com