Former Coronation Street stars Amelia Bullmore and Lee Warburton have talked about the experience of changing from actors to writers for TV show Scott & Bailey, which also stars Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp.
Amelia, who was Steph Barnes in the soap from 1990-1995, plays DCI Gill Murray in the ITV police drama, but has now become the show's lead writer, and Lee, who played Tony Horrocks in Corrie from 1995-1998, has penned two episodes for her.
"The team on Corrie are fantastic and I'm more in awe now than I've ever been. I used to read a script and think, 'Ooh, they've spelt that wrong', or, 'My character wouldn't go to Blackpool on holiday'.
"Now I realise someone's spent three months doing everything they can to make that script happen. I was so ungrateful!"
But Amelia added it could be a difficult balance to act and write: "I was actually a little bit wobbly when we started filming this series, because I'd been so busy with the scripts, I hadn't quite done as much prep as I usually would.
"What was coming out of me sounded a bit like a Gill impression, but after a week or so I relaxed."
Lee moved into TV writing four years ago and admitted: "I didn't have a clue when I started. I felt like I was wearing boxing gloves and trying to type on the keyboard...
"It's weird being on set as a writer and suddenly feeling like you're not part of the acting gang, but I absolutely love the peace and quiet. I enjoy sitting at my desk, just me and my dog, working on scripts."
"It really helps to have an acting background," adds Lee, "because what I'm doing now is just a different way of telling stories. I'm acting every single character every day, speaking all the lines out loud and making sure the actors can say them."
Scott & Bailey continues on ITV on Wednesday, September 17.
