Geraldine Somerville Newspaper1

FILMING her latest role gave Geraldine Somerville nightmares. She knew it would be tough when she first picked up the script for this week's episode of Cracker - and she was right. The flame-haired actress, who plays ice-cool Detective Sergeant Jane Penhaligon, was so troubled by the harrowing scenes she had to film that she couldn't switch off when she went home. Penhaligon - half of a strikingly successful crime-busting duo along with flamboyant psychologist Fitz (Robbie Coltrane) - is raped as she investigates a string of assaults. The episode brought Geraldine, 27, face to face with the fear she has always had about being attacked. She says: "When I first read the script I felt I was on a roller-coaster. It was both frightening and gripping. It was like your biggest nightmare coming true. I was a bit apprehensive at first but I realised it would be well-handled and well-written."

But Geraldine, who lives in South London, was not prepared for the emotional toll the role would take on her. She admits: "I wanted to give a portrayal that was as honest and as fair as possible, so I soaked myself in information. I read everything I could find, watched TV programmes about rape and spoke to someone at the Rape Crisis Centre. But before long I realised it was taking over my life. I started becoming obsessed by it all. In the end I had to force myself not to do any more research. I couldn't switch off at the end of the day's filming - I would take it home with me and have nightmares. It was a very frightening time. It really brought home to me what it must be like to go through something like that." One thing Geraldine discovered was that few attacks get reported to the police. As a result, only a small number of rapists are brought to justice. "It doesn't surprise me, because a woman is often victimised again in court," she says. "I think the law fails a lot of rape victims, and that certainly comes across in Cracker. Penhaligon knows the process a rape victim goes through, so it's doubly worse for her." She decides to take revenge on her attacker, and Geraldine says she would probably react in the same way. But she admits: "I'm not as brave as she is, and I don't know whether I would go as far as she does."

During her most fraught moments on set Geraldine relies on the unwavering support of the rest of the team, especially co-star Coltrane. She says: "He is wonderful. Those scenes were not easy to do, but he and everyone else was very supportive to me. I was so excited about working with him. He is very good at the job and can always make me laugh, even after an incredibly intense scene. It makes it all a lot easier." The BAFTA award- winning thriller was Geraldine's first big TV break. The daughter of a retired financial expert and an antique dealer, she spent three years at drama school, where she always seemed to play old ladies. "I didn't think I'd work until I was 60!" she says. She later did some stage work and appeared in episodes of Poirot and Casualty before landing the role of Penhaligon - or Panhandle, as Fitz playfully calls her. Geraldine reckons that she and her character don't have a lot in common. "We are both determined and quite stubborn, but that's where similarities end," she says. "She's not into fashion and I'm certainly not like her in that respect - I love clothes. She is desperate to be taken seriously. She is strong and tough, and there aren't too many of those roles around for women. I consider myself very lucky - it's a wonderful part."

Robbie Coltrane is poised to hit our screens next month in a new series of Cracker. Alongside him once again will be luscious redhead Geraldine Somerville. And the oddest will-they-won't-they forbidden romance on TV is definitely back ON. The first series ended with Coltrane's criminal psychologist, Fitz, dumping Geraldine's character, Detective Sergeant Penhaligon, at the airport as they were about to leave together for a romantic holiday. In ITV's new series, he's back with his wife, played by Barbara Flynn - and trying to patch things up with spurned Penhaligon . . . in between helping track down a serial killer. Geraldine says Robbie is great fun to work with - and, off-camera, constantly plays the joker. She says: "He's a very funny man, a real performer in that respect. He is just an extremely witty person with a quick brain. There is a lot of pressure on the set to make some moments really work emotionally. So if you get somebody coming in with a gag now and again, it's wonderful. This is where somebody like Robbie, an actor who has his roots in comedy, can help defuse a situation. Not only that, he is an extremely accomplished actor. I have learned a lot from him. He comes in every day on time and he is extremely well prepared for what he has to do."

Before Cracker came along Geraldine, born in Co. Meath, Ireland, was virtually unknown as an actress. And whether she likes it or not, this publicity-shy actress, 25, may be about to break out. She sighs: "About my work, I'm hypercritical. It's terrible, really. "I'm not very comfortable with this interview stuff. But I regard Cracker as a breakthrough. I certainly see it as a great opportunity. It's got so many good things about it, the writing, directing, the other actors. "It's definitely a great thrill. The chance also to work for five and a half months on film is quite rare in this country." For the time being, flame-haired Geraldine is a straightforward reality check inside the oh-so-luvvy world of precious dahling thespians. Wearing a vintage blue top over a black dress with high neckline, she goes unnoticed while posing for photographs in a busy London street. With her, that's fine and dandy. "I just want to be left alone do good work," she says. The first Cracker earned her rave reviews for her portrayal of a hard-assed cop with a marshmallow heart. She says: "That's a nice contrast to work on. I would imagine anyone who works in such a predominantly male environment as the police force kind of creates those barriers. She certainly does, and she is quite good at it, you know, being really tough and together. That's the crux of the relationship with Fitz - he brings the vulnerable side out of her. He can pinpoint what you are thinking, knows who you are, and you can't fool him. And she finds that very attractive, because it's somebody who is saying: 'I know you and I like you' - that's just what he ultimately is saying to her."

To prepare for Penhaligon, she had many sessions with a real woman copper. "There's a detective I regularly speak to in Manchester," she says. "She is about the same age as Penhaligon. She works at the Ansen Road police station that our one is based on. I talk to her a lot on the phone. A lot of it is just to do with how you approach certain situations - such as how you interview people.'' SHE goes on: "But we are not trying to say in Cracker this is how the police are, this is how they work. This is a drama and there is obviously poetic license within that." All she will divulge about her personal life is she was born in Ireland, and moved to London via the Isle of Man. But, unlike that of Penhaligon, Geraldine's own romantic life is stable - right? "No comment," she replies frostily.