'I was a rotter in Gavin & Stacey – they're great to play'

Actress Laura Aikman on reprising her role in the much-loved show, filming a bad girl character for new drugs drama This City Is Ours and getting away from it all in the Himalayas

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Fresh from thrilling audiences as manipulative bridezilla Sonia in the Gavin & Stacey finale, Laura Aikman is bouncing back on our screens playing another bad girl. The actress, whose surprise appearance as Smithy's bride in the Christmas Day special shocked the nation, stars as Rachel Duffy in new drugs drama This City Is Ours.

Filming on the big-budget series took place last year, at the same time as Laura was filming Gavin & Stacey.

"It was the year of the bitch," laughs Laura. "But they're great to play."

While pretentious Sonia was what Laura cheerfully calls a “rotter”, Rachel is a much darker character, with ambitions to become a major player in Liverpool’s dark drugs scene.

It’s a refreshing role for Laura, having spent much of her career playing romantic love interests.

“One of the first things I fell in love with about Rachel was that she never tries to make other people feel comfortable,” explains Laura. “We all have that tendency to laugh at a bad joke or fill silence but Rachel doesn’t give a s**t.

“She’s happy for everyone to get uncomfortable. She can be quite rude, she tells people what she thinks, she doesn’t like new people but she’s really smart, she’s determined and she’s ambitious.”

This City Is Ours also stars Sean Bean as gang leader Ronnie Phelan while Julie Graham plays his wife Elaine. Laura's character Rachel is their niece, who has just qualified as an accountant and is determined to take her rightful place in the family business.

“She’s waiting to pick her moment and she feels she’s been very patient,” says Laura. “As the series goes on, that patience runs out and you see her get more single-minded about what she wants. She’s ruthless.”