After making her name as the ill-fated spy Jo Portman in Spooks, Miranda Raison is chasing bad guys again this week in a new series of the offbeat BBC2 crime drama Vexed. The first series of the comedy drama screened in 2010 and starred Toby Stephens as the work-shy, politically incorrect DI Jack Armstrong alongside Lucy Punch as his more dedicated colleague DI Kate Bishop. Punch has since departed and the new run sees Raison join the cast as Jack’s new partner, the high-flying, ambitious DI Georgina Dixon. We caught up with the actress to find out more... How would you describe your character, DI Georgina Dixon? “She appears to be very together, but all the ways in which she seems organised and regimental are just the weak glue holding her together. She is completely dysfunctional because everything is channelled into work and she obsesses over things, whereas her detective partner Jack, played by Toby Stephens, will play poker rather than work.” What are they like as a duo? “She’s efficient and he blunders through, but his strengths are her weaknesses and vice versa. They are like the school prefect and the class clown, where one could take a leaf out of the other’s book and be better off, but it takes a while for them to listen to each other because they represent what the other one hates. It’s not the conventional will-they-won’t-they relationship; there is chemistry but there’s an innate knowledge that they’d be a disaster together.” Did you get to do any action scenes? “Yes Georgina is more actiony than Jack. She is sporty and goes running and has a bit of fight and weapons training. I got to raid a couple of buildings with guns and I had to sprint after a couple of suspects while Jack carried my handbag. It was fun and it’s amazing how much stays with you after being in Spooks.” What was the appeal of the show for you? “Apart from working with Toby, who is brilliant and the most ridiculous giggler, I love the tone of the show. It has the style of a thriller, but it has got these dysfunctional antiheroes at its centre who aren’t aware that what is happening to them is funny. Having done Spooks, where there were so many silly moments between takes, to be allowed to have them on camera is great.” Did you watch the last episode of Spooks? “Yes, they had a screening for us. A lot of dead spooks attended and everyone had goosebumps seeing Matthew Macfadyen pop up, but it was sad seeing what happened to poor Ruth.” Do you still get recognised for Spooks? “I do. Most of my real-life wardrobe is costume that I’ve nicked from jobs so when people recognise me I worry they think I dress like that to get recognised. That would be awful.” The new series of Vexed begins on BBC2 on Wednesday, August 1 at 9pm
