Action woman

She made her name in period dramas, but Sophie Rundle loves her stunt-filled role in crime series After The Flood

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Going back to work after maternity leave can be a headscramble for any new mother - but it was especially bewildering for actress Sophie Rundle.

After the birth of her second baby, Sophie returned to film After The Flood alongside her real-life partner Matt Stokoe. With two young children at home, the pair weren't sleeping and after being woken in the night by their own baby, they'd then arrive on set to play parents to another one.

Sophie, 37, explains, “It was tricky at times because we have two children and our youngest turned one while we were filming. We'd be up all night with our baby and then we’d go to work exhausted and be given a different baby! And then I'd be like, ‘Well, there's Matt but he doesn’t look exactly like Matt, and the baby doesn’t look like our baby.’ So it was a little bit of a mindscramble! We were just very tired and confused a lot of the time.”

Series one of ITV police drama After The Flood was a hit with fans and Sophie is now reprising her role as fearless detective Jo Marshall, who is embroiled in a baffling new murder investigation, while still battling to expose the corruption she uncovered in the first series. Matt, who is best known for his leading role in ITV's The Hunt For Raoul Moat, plays Jo's ex-partner Pat Holman, who wants to win back her trust after Jo found he had played a part in a police cover-up.

Deciding to take on a new show with her real-life partner was a risk, but Sophie reckons it has paid off.