HOUSE of cards

MICHAEL SOCHA and SHERIDAN SMITH on playing thieving casino workers whose actions have dangerous consequences

- HANNAH DAVIES

THE CAGE

NEW SUNDAY, 9PM, BBC1 DRAMA (BOX SET, BBC IPLAYER)

A single mum finds herself plunged into Liverpool's criminal underbelly when she starts stealing from her workplace in BBC1's high- stakes heist drama The Cage.

Written by Tony Schumacher (The Responder) and filmed in Liverpool, the five-parter centres around desperate casino employee Leanne (played by I Fought the Law star Sheridan Smith), who begins skimming cash from the work safe to avoid losing her family home.

But when she discovers her gambling-addict colleague Matty (Toxic Town's Michael Socha) is doing the same, they end up on a collision course with both the police and ruthless crime boss Gary (The Hack's Barry Sloane), who's been using his family's casino to launder money and will stop at nothing to unmask the thieves.

Here, friends Sheridan, 44, and Michael, 38, who call each other Smith and Socha, tell TV Times how the dice are loaded against their characters...

What were your first impressions when you heard about this drama?