Kiri: Sarah Lancashire gives us the low-down on her hard-hitting new show

Sarah Lancashire is back on our screens in gritty drama Kiri, playing a social worker who gets the blame for the disappearance and death of a young girl…

Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire is always fabulous, and she doesn't disappoint in this hard-hitting new drama (from Bafta-winner Jack Thorne, who gave us National Treasure), playing a social worker who messes up when a young black girl - Kiri - goes missing on her watch.

You won't be able to tear yourself away from the action as Miriam (played by Sarah Lancashire) unravels bigtime under heavy press and public scrutiny once the girl is tragically found dead, and even her colleagues blame her for putting Kiri at risk.

WATCH: The gripping trailer for Kiri...

Kiri spoilers: Episode 2

Last week's heartbreaking episode was about the death of a young girl Kiri, abducted and murdered ahead of her adoption by a white family.

The witch-hunt around Kiri's social worker, Miriam (played by Sarah Lancashire), intensifies and we find out more about Kiri's last movements, while the search for her grandfather, Tobi, continues.

Where do we find Miriam at the beginning of the story?

She makes a decision to allow one of the youngsters that she’s in charge of, Kiri, to visit her paternal grandparents, unchaperoned. Miriam feels it is a safe situation. But it has devastating consequences, the effects of which are explored in in the series.

Happy Valley, and now this intense drama. You've previously spoken about your struggle with depression - are you good at switching off after a day’s filming?

Well, you can’t switch off, because there’s work to do. We don’t do nine-to-five jobs. You do long days filming, and then you go back and start preparing for tomorrow or the rest of the week. Doing pieces like this is very demanding, you have to learn in the evenings. If you’re leading a piece, the night time is just work time. So, there’s no opportunity to switch off.

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What do you like about Kiri?

It’s a very exciting drama, and without a doubt, it was one of the best scripts I’ve read in a very long time. This piece is very real, and very raw, and it was also colourful and edgy. It just had a heartbeat. It was leaping off the page, to be honest.

How did you get on with the Bristol accent? (Kiri is set around Gloucester Road in Bristol)

I wouldn’t say I’m naturally gifted in that area; I always have to work at stuff. So, I had a few weeks at home on my own, just bedding the accent in.

As someone whose success has increased with age, do you think there are decent roles out there now for women as they get older?

I wouldn’t read too much into it. I think it’s about the choices that you make. I don’t tend to make easy choices, and that’s because I have to do work that I care about. I’m not terribly good at being around work I don’t care about!

When is Kiri on TV?

The first episode of Kiri airs on Wednesday 10 January, 9pm on Channel 4.

How many episodes of Kiri are there?

There are four episodes of Kiri in total, each is an hour long.

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