Mystery BOX

SALLY LINDSAY on a high-stakes mission for her super-sleuth

- HANNAH DAVIES, STEVEN PERKINS

Santa Claus is delivering an extra-special gift for fans of 5's whodunnit The Madame Blanc Mysteries this Yuletide: the show's first-ever feature-length festive mystery!

The two-hour instalment finds antique dealer and part-time sleuth Jean White (played by Sally Lindsay) looking forward to spending Christmas Eve at a VIP museum event in the (fictional) French village of Sainte Victoire, along with fiancé Dom Hayes (Steve Edge) and friends Judith and Jeremy Lloyd James (Sue Holderness and Robin Askwith). But there's a huge shock when Jean opens an ornate box rumoured to have belonged to Marie Antoinette and finds a ticking time bomb inside!

The situation takes another terrifying turn when the guests realise the exit has been sealed and all lines of communication with the outside world severed. Now, their only hope of survival is a riddle left for Jean to solve in order to stop the 90-minute countdown to denotation.

Here, Sally, 52, who co-created and co-writes the series with actor Sue Vincent, AKA mechanic Gloria Beauchamp, joins TV Times for an exclusive chat about the drama ahead...

What inspired this race-against-theclock story?