ON SET WITH... Indira Varma

Indira, 43, best known for her roles in Luther and Game Of Thrones, plays detective Nina Suresh in ITV's conspiracy thriller Paranoid. here she talks us through a week's filming on the show, which was shot primarily in Cheshire...

4 MONDAY

There are lots of police dramas on TV but Paranoid really stands out. It began with a stabbing in rural Cheshire, but as the deaths mount up it’s developed into an international conspiracy thriller with the pharmaceuticals industry at the heart of it. But it’s also very character-driven and everyone in the show is flawed – they’re all juggling the work/life balance and not always winning. My character Nina has been dumped by her boyfriend after four years and isn’t really coping with life. She’s very human.

5 TUESDAY

I’m not sure there’s ever been a detective quite like Nina before. She articulates what so many women feel when their biological clock is ticking and today that’s the subject of some emotional scenes for me. She’s desperate to be a mum and she doesn’t hide it. I know how she feels. At 30 I was so not ready to become a mum, but by 32 I started to panic that I was too late. You wake up to a huge need, and it’s refreshing to play a character who expresses that need. Luckily for me, I had a baby at 34.

6 WEDNESDAY

I’m excited today because I have scenes with Dino Fetscher, who plays Nina’s colleague and new lover Alec Wayfield [right]. I like the fact that after being dumped by the guy she wanted to have babies with, Nina’s started a relationship with a younger man. She realises it’s time to have some fun.

7 THURSDAY

I really enjoy doing action scenes and fortunately I’ve been able to do plenty on this series. I’ve chased a motorbike through a forest, clambered out of a lake and been stuck in a burning building. It was really hot in there but I wasn’t willing to get out until the stuntman told me to. The only time I’ve regretted doing my own stunt work on this show was when I agreed to do some chasing in bare feet. After 30 takes of running around with no shoes on I could barely walk! It didn’t really seem worth it for only five seconds of TV.

8 FRIDAY

Nina is quite threatened by other women. I have a bit of a problem with that – I think women should all support each other – but it clearly comes from her insecurities. Today I’m working with the wonderful Lesley Sharp and it’s interesting because Nina’s always been suspicious of Lesley’s character Lucy, a Quaker who’s struck up a friendship with Nina’s colleague Bobby, played by Robert Glenister. Nina can see he’s vulnerable and she doesn’t understand his relationship with Lucy. The tension between the two women is interesting territory.

Paranoid, Thursday, 9pm, ITV.