Anna Friel Plays a photographer on the trail of a political cover-up

Anna Friel make a welcome return to the small screen this week in the conspiracy thriller Fields of Gold. She plays Lucia, a young press photographer who teams up with tabloid journalist Lodge (Phil Davis) to investigate the sinister connections between the Government, big business and the world of GM crops.

The pair soon realise they have discovered a major Government cover-up and those involved want them silenced once and for all. "It's a very exciting plot," says Anna who is currently in Montreal filming Timeline, a £60 million Hollywood adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel. "When I decided to do some more telly I wanted to come back with a real bang".

To research her role the ex-Brookside actress dusted off her camera and hung out with a real-life snapper. But she soon realised that she preferred being on the other side of the lens.

"I thought the other photographers would take the mickey out of me. But they didn't. They were really friendly and let me borrow their stepladders so I could see better, as I'm only little. I was shadowing a photographer from The Guardian and she took me out on lots of jobs. I enjoyed it as a challenge but I also felt quite intrusive as one of the events we were covering was human rights campaigner Donald Woods' funeral."

Nowadays, the 25-year-old is usually to be found making big-budget films in the US and spending time with her partner, actor David Thewlis. But Rochdale-born Anna hasn't forgotten her TV roots.

"Without Brookside I wouldn't be where I am today. But I thought ' If I don't leave now I'm stupid, because nothing is going to beat this body under the patio storyline' ", she says. "Thankfully, it's looking like I made the right decision !".

Tim Randall