A bit of a Brum do

Chaos erupts when three siblings try to hide a terrible family secret in a new comedy drama set in Birmingham

- LAURA CARRENO-MULLER

When he stepped into the world of new comedy drama Just Act Normal, Sam Buchanan knew he was in for a challenge.

Having previously appeared in EastEnders and Sherwood, the Kent-born actor stars as Gavin, aka Dr Feelgood, in the six-part series a character who has an accent that's totally different to his own.

"I'm the only one in the cast who's not native to Birmingham," Sam says. "I felt a real pressure when I went to those first read-throughs."

Determined to nail the Brummie burr, he enlisted a local friend to help him.

"This is my biggest role to date with an accent," Sam, 27, says. "But it was a great way for me to get away from myself. My friend spoke the lines back to me and I learnt them phonetically."