Emmerdale's Jenna on her move to Waterloo Road

Emmerdale's Jenna on her move to Waterloo Road
Emmerdale's Jenna on her move to Waterloo Road (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

TV Times talks to ex-Emmerdale star Jenna Louise Coleman about her new role as a posh pupil in Waterloo Road... Did you enjoy school? "I absolutely loved it! It was the best time in my life so far I would say. I was Head Girl, which I enjoyed, but of course it meant you always had to be on your best behaviour!" What was it like going back into the classroom at age 23? "It was surreal sitting in a classroom doing chemistry lessons again! And it felt weird putting on the uniform. At my school we didn’t wear uniforms in Sixth Form so I haven’t worn one since I was 16. My school uniform was a bottle-green colour and we didn’t wear ties as we had dicky bows. So I didn’t know how to do up Lindsay’s tie and had to get someone in the costume department to teach me!" You did well in your exams (straight As in her A-levels) but what were your reports like? "They said: 'She needs to stop doing all the drama and concentrate on her work a bit more and then she’ll be fine!'” What about your new character Lindsay? "She’s completely different to Jasmine Thomas, my Emmerdale character. She’s a hard nut to crack and a tormented soul whereas Jasmine wore her heart on her sleeve and just cried all the time! I loved the character straight away. I can’t say too much, but Lindsay’s harbouring a dark secret connected with her home life, which won’t be revealed for quite a while..." Apparently there is quickly a rivalry between you and Michaela, played (Zarah Abrahams)... “Yes. We have had a few fights. They didn’t want them to look too choreographed so they gave Zarah and I free reign and let us scratch, pull each others’ hair and try to throw each other on the floor! We’ve had four big catfights to do and, in a weird way, they were really fun!"

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Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.