SHERIDAN SMITH

NO RETURN Monday, 9pm, ITV

1I play Kathy, a mother on holiday in Turkey whose life descends into hell after her teenage son Noah is accused of sexual assault and locked up. The interior prison scenes took place in the old BHS building in Bolton. We were freezing cold but had to pretend to be sweltering in the Turkish heat!

2 Much of the series was shot in Spain – the pandemic made it too complicated to work in Turkey. In contrast to

Lancashire, it was hot and sunny and the producers were concerned about us getting too tanned if we suddenly had to film scenes from earlier in the story. The production team would use brollies to try to keep us the same shade!

3

This was the first time I’d played a mum while being a mother myself – my son Billy turns two in May. It was so different. You can act being a mum but there’s something transformative when you are a parent yourself. When Noah was suffering, all I kept thinking of was Billy. I was so upset by the character’s ordeal, I even cried during the read-through, before

we began filming.

4

The toughest scene to film was the one where the police come to arrest Noah because it felt so believable. We were in this tight little room with lots of supporting artists as armed police officers, and it was terrifying. Little acting required.

5

I was so glad to have Billy with me on set to let me get away briefly from the stresses of work. I had a nanny to help me in

Spain. People are sometimes embarrassed to say they’ve got a nanny, but there’s no way I could have had Billy with me without one, the way he runs around.