Line of DUTY

IAIN DE CAESTECKER and JOANNA VANDERHAM on how one phone call can change everything

- ELAINE REILLY

THE CONTROL ROOM

NEW SUNDAY-TUESDAY, 9PM, BBC1

DRAMA (BOX SET, BBC IPLAYER)

A life-and-death situation is the catalyst for BBC1's brand-new thriller The Control Room.

Airing over consecutive nights this week, the three-part series follows an emergency call handler, Gabe Maver (Roadkill star Iain De Caestecker), working for Strathclyde Ambulance Service in Glasgow, who has his world turned upside down after he answers a 999 call from a distraught woman, Sam Tolmie (The Paradise's Joanna Vanderham), who appears to know him.

After Sam rings off, Gabe faces a barrage of questions from Detective Inspector Anna Breck (Sharon Rooney), his colleague Anthony (Daniel Portman) and his boss and lover Leigh (Taj Atwal), but he insists he has no idea who this lady is.

Things soon take a very intriguing turn, however, when Gabe finishes his shift and begins searching for Sam.

Here, Iain, 34, and Joanna, 30, give TV Times their take on the story...

'THEY CAUSE ABSOLUTE CHAOS!' - Joanna Vanderham

Why did this drama appeal to you?

IAIN When I got the scripts, I raced through them. It's a real page-turner, but the characters are written with a lot of heart and sensitivity.

JOANNA I read the script and thought: 'I've not seen anything like this on TV before.'

And I wanted to work with Iain again - it's been so long since we made [BBC1's 2011 drama] Young James Herriot together!

What can you tell us about your characters?

IAIN From the start, you see that Gabe is stuck. He doesn't have close relationships and doesn't get a lot of joy out of life. There's something in his past that haunts him and connects him and Sam...