DOING TV DRAMA JUSTICE: Suranne Jones

Suranne Jones dons a judge’s wig tonight for Sky Living’s drama pilot Lawless (9pm). The

former Corrie star already has experience of the TV justice system from all angles… Suranne made a brief appearance at Christmas Street police station, scene of the BBC’s City Central, in 1998, before her British Soap Awardwinning stint as Corrie’s Karen McDonald. No sooner had she left the Street than she was partnering Ray Winstone’s private eye in Vincent (1). The same year, 2005, Suranne took to the stage in a revival of military courtroom drama A Few Good Men, playing Lt Galloway opposite Rob Lowe’s Lt Kaffee (the roles taken by Demi Moore and Tom Cruise in the 1992 film). Her character in 2006 miniseries Strictly

Confidential (2) was a former police officer turned sex therapist mixed up in a sordid murder case. Suranne switched sides in 2007, taking the title role in ITV movie Dead Clever: The Life And Crimes Of Julie Bottomley, before going on to star in award-winning 2009 drama Unforgiven (3), playing a cop-killer reaching the end of her life sentence. Suranne – who has family in the police herself – returned to the force for hit series Scott & Bailey in 2011. Crime has been kind to Suranne, but she’s not afraid to send it up – she’s just finished a second run of detective spoof A Touch Of Cloth (4) with John Hannah. Suranne’s next project gives her a change of scene; she plays a nurse in upcoming BBC drama The Ark — though she’s already been a doctor in ITV’s short-lived Harley Street.

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