I'm Up For Happy Valley 3!'

The Loch’s Siobhan Finneran on her enviable career, the future of Downton and why she’d love to do another series of Happy Valley.

- Caren Clark

TV Times is happy to report that Siobhan Finneran is as down to earth as you’d expect. As we chat to the critically-lauded character actress about her long and varied career, she’s initially distracted – not by how this interview will go, nor the relentless demands of her craft, but by the fact that’s she’s lost her cup of tea!

‘I’ve just made it, but I don’t know where I’ve put it,’ laughs Siobhan, 51, who’s now a household name thanks to such diverse roles as scheming maid O’Brien in Downton Abbey, gobby Janice Garvey in Benidorm and recovering alcohol and heroin addict Clare Cartwright in Happy Valley.

Thankfully, Siobhan soon locates her cuppa and, fully refreshed, opens up about her current role as no-nonsense DCI Lauren Quigley in ITV’s Loch Ness-set thriller The Loch and some of her previous favourite performances…

This week sees DCI Quigley's investigation take a new turn as she realises that she may be dealing with the serial killer, while also searching for a missing person. She does seem to have rather a lot on her plate…

Yes, she does. She thought the murder would be an easy case to solve, but it grows much bigger and more complicated each week – sometimes even the actors were confused about what was going on! She’s an outsider in the [fictional] town of Lochnefoy and she doesn’t fit in, but she’s developing a better relationship with local cop Annie [Laura Fraser] because she needs someone who knows the area.

The drama is very dark on screen, but how was it for the cast between takes?