Waterloo Road's Elizabeth Berrington reveals cookery teacher Ruby Fry's shocking reversal in fortune this term! There is a major change in Ruby's life this term, can you tell us what's going on? "When we first met Ruby she considered her job as a sort of hobby, because her husband was a successful businessman. But things have changed this series since she came home one day and found all the furniture repossessed and the car picked up. There's been a dramatic change in fortune for her this term." How does she cope with her new circumstances? "She doesn't cope with it brilliantly well. That's where we find her this term. She's a little bit depressed and not really confiding in anyone. She thinks she's in control, but she's not - she becomes a bit of a liability really!" How does this spill over into her working life? "She keeps putting sticking plaster over the cracks. She's in trouble and she's not owning up to it. She's under pressure and she becomes more and more stressed and overwhelmed." What happens on the school outing to the farm? "Things go quite badly at the farm. It's undermanned and an absolute hellhole - every animal that can escape, does! Also, a fight ensues among the children." One of the children gets injured, how does Ruby deal with the repercussions of this? "She tries to rope Steph into helping her cover her tracks - but in the finish Ruby ends up a snivelling mess." Did no one ever tell you not to work with animals and children? "Yes, but what can you do! It was really great actually. We had shocking weather when we were shooting, but we'd a real hoot on the farm. There were loads of calves and piglets leaping about. There's a scene where Steph has to milk a cow and just prior to that the cows seemed to have constant diarrhoea - but that's eating grass for you!" How do you think the series will be affected by the loss of three major characters, or do you move on quite quickly? "The nature of this type of drama is that you do move on very quickly. We've two film units and they film at great rapidity. So at any one time you're shooting four episodes, so you just about keep ahead of yourself! We're filming the next series at the moment and there are lots of exciting storylines to look forward to." Did you enjoy school? "No, I had a revolting time at school, actually. I think I was a bright kid who was borderline dyslexic and when I was at school - aeons ago - those things weren't picked up in the same way, so I found that frustrating. In the end I think I got a bit naughty and wasn't concentrating when I could have! I think children fare better these days and these problems are picked up earlier and you're supported."
