Sarah Parish on her McDonald & Dodds character: 'Mariel's stylish, flamboyant and naughty!'

"I thought the script was really good fun, and I know Jason because we did [Sky One’s supermarket-set sitcom] Trollied and [BBC Two comedy] W1A together, so we already have a great shorthand with each other."

"Yes, she’s quite out-there! Mariel’s very stylish, flamboyant, and rather naughty – and I don’t get to play characters like that often. The great thing about McDonald & Dodds is it has a lovely theatrical style but also roots its storylines very much in reality, so Mariel was a real joy to play."

"They spar off each other and constantly bicker, and yet they are a good business partnership. He has got a roving eye, and she finds that very difficult. Their relationship is on the turn, but there is a definite love there. 

"They can’t live with each other and they can’t live without each other."

"Rhashan was brilliant to work with. I knew him before because we met a long time ago out in Los Angeles. I went to a dance class in Pacific Palisades and, bizarrely, Rhashan was there with his wife [My Name Is Leon star Olivia Williams]! 

"He’s also very good friends with a friend of mine, so we’ve got a lot of people in common."

"What seems to be a terrible accident, the death of this young girl on the operating table, actually turns out to be a pre-meditated murder.

"Everyone within the surgery is a suspect and has a reason why they could have done it, so we get to explore all the different characters’ backstories."

"Mariel’s first reaction is to save herself and make sure the clinic doesn’t go under. You will see a funny side to her, but none of the people in the clinic are hugely sympathetic at the end of the day, so you see the true side to all of them."

"When they start investigating, she develops quite an interesting relationship with McDonald, who thinks Mariel is a bit of a wrong ’un, but they also have great respect for each other. It’s quite the cat-and-mouse dynamic. 

"Tala and I have a lot of scenes together that were great fun to film."

"It’s a funny one, that. There is a lot of good and a lot of bad that comes with all that kind of stuff. If it’s used well, social media can be a great thing, but we are not quite ready for the amount of technology that’s been thrust upon us in such a short amount of time, and we haven’t really put in place safety nets for children.

"Children are looking at things they shouldn’t and comparing themselves to people who aren’t even real; they’re pulled, stretched and airbrushed into impossible versions of themselves. It’s very unhealthy for kids, but all we can do is keep an eye on our own kids and police it as best you can."

"No, I haven’t. She’s quite an extraordinary character — she’s really good at playing golf, she loves karaoke and she owns a plastic surgery clinic. I don’t know anyone like that and I don’t know anyone who knows anyone like that, so it really was a character plucked out of thin air. I wish I did know someone like Mariel, though, she sounds like a hoot!"

"No! I had to look like I knew what I was doing in the golfing scenes and, luckily, my husband [actor James Murray, who played Chief Superintendent John Houseman in the first two series of the show] is a very good golfer, so he helped me out with a couple of things that I had to do on the golf course. 

"He couldn’t help me out with the karaoke, though, I just had to go for it! It was an embarrassing and painful day for everyone… especially the sound team!"