‘She reminded me of my mum’
Sally Lindsay on how her latest character struck a personal chord
Swapping her trademark blonde locks for a brunette ponytail, Sally Lindsay was pleased to get her teeth into playing tenacious family liaison officer Karen Bailey.
When Karen arrives at Sam and Rebecca’s house the morning after the break-in, she doesn’t believe their story that burglar Syed was killed in self-defence. But with dark forces at play as the investigation unfolds, how far will Karen go to get to the truth? ‘Bailey has been into many houses after something terrible has happened,’ explains former Corrie star Sally, 47. ‘She’s a police officer who’s not there to detect and has been put in a box by her colleagues.
‘She’s focused on the machinations of the family rather than the crime itself, so she can’t stop asking questions. It’s like an itch she can’t scratch!’
The role proved close to home for Sally, as Karen reminded her of her own mum, who was a social worker for many years.
‘A family liaison officer is quite similar to a social worker in many ways,’ says Sally. ‘My mum used to say she could walk into a room and know who was abusing who within five minutes. So when I was reading the script, Bailey reminded me of her straight away.’
Working on Intruder also reunited
Sally with writer and director Gareth Tunley, whose acclaimed 2019 Channel 5 drama Cold Call she also starred in.
‘Gareth is a massive talent,’ she says. ‘Intruder has a hint of Scandi-drama, but it’s more like a four-hour British film noir!’