Interview with Jo Joyner

Who is Lorna?

Lorna is Ash’s wife and, like all good detectives, he’s never at home, so we don’t see so much of her. She’s been in love with Ash since school where they were childhood sweethearts. There’s a classic thing with Lorna and Ash whereby you fall in love with these qualities in a person that you ultimately try to change and then it goes wrong. She fell in love with the naughty boy at school and she loved it because he walked this fine line between detention and doing well. Now that he’s married her and they’ve had kids and settled down she’s trying to change him, but you can’t.

What does Lorna mean to Ash?

I think she is his safe hold. When you’re walking a fine line like he is, she definitely saved him from trouble when they were teenagers and he could have gone to the other side. It’s a true detective thing isn’t it, they could always have been one of the baddies and Lorna’s definitely been instrumental in stopping Ash being one of the baddies. He’s been a good guy but he’s an edgy good guy.

Does Ash’s new job change their relationship?

There’s that element with any soldier or the police force that you’re just not sure if they’re going to come home every night. Ash comes home later and later and he’s not particularly honest with her about how deep he is into courageous stuff and she’s constantly worried that he might get hurt. She’s got two girls to look after – she would love it if he would be a bobby on the beat and move to the country but that’s never going to happen. Her father, Ralph, was a policeman too and she’s seen her mum be a bit of a forces widow herself, so there’s an underlying angst that things might go that way.

What interested you in the role?

It was because the director, Farren Blackburn, who set it up had a really strong image for it. It’s shot beautifully and it’s going to be quite unusual with a retro-vintage feel to it. It’s also something I’ve never done. I’m not in the high-action stuff but I’ve never been part of something like this.

Why do you think The Interceptor is different from other crime shows?

Apart from the fact that the style is going to be different because it’s shot so beautifully with the vintage feel, I love that, early on, they struggle with some of the activity. They’re chasing someone and they don’t quite get them and there’s a fallibility about them. What’s lovely is you see Ash at home unloading the dishwasher and emptying the bins and you see him not quite making the catch. There’s a little bit more honesty about it which I think is really novel about the show.