The Last Tango in Halifax star plays Helen Bartlett, a woman who has not seen her parents for over 30 years, in Series 3 of the crime drama, which continues at 9pm on Wednesday on ITV.

> Buy the complete Series 1 & 2 boxset on Amazon.

Walker comments: “They didn’t explain everything about her at first or where this story was going for Helen. I didn’t want to know too much about the whys of what Helen does because I don’t think Helen knows. I don’t like knowing more than my character knows. As someone watching the show, I would be really uncertain about Helen. I hope people are.”

She adds: “The series has an unusual feel to it and is not like any other police drama. I like seeing the personal lives being peeled back and the way [creator Sally Wainwright] plays with the comedy and the seriousness. It’s dramatically always interesting because her characters are a mess. They’re more true to life. They do heroic things but they’re not heroes.”

Discussing her audition for the role, Walker reveals: “I was sent the script and went to audition a scene where Helen has to break down and talk about her life. It was something like 9:30am in a room off Leicester Square in London where I met the director and producer. I finished the audition and was a complete weeping wreck, saying, ‘And now you’re going to throw me out on to the streets?!’ I wandered around Leicester Square thinking, ‘This is a really odd job sometimes.’”

Recalling her first scene where Helen is working in the make-up and perfume department of a Manchester department store, she comments: “We filmed in a real store before the start of the shopping day, so we had about an hour to get it done in this very ghostly make-up hall. It’s not my usual environment.”

She jokes: “I feel proud of myself if I manage to go out wearing some lipstick. I don’t play characters who have glamorous make-up and never really have. So the make-up girl found it hilarious that I was so uncomfortable with this huge make-up look. I really must get my head around it a bit more because I actually did quite enjoy it.”

> Buy the complete Series 1 & 2 boxset on Amazon.

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