EMMERDALE actress Verity Rushworth admits that taking on Agatha Christie stageplay, And Then There Were None, alongside a who’s who of British acting talent was almost as daunting as some of her soap storylines.

“I have used the expression ‘veterans’ about my co-stars, but I’m not sure they like that,” jokes Rushworth about Newcastle Theatre Royal co-stars Emmerdale veteran Frazer Hines, musical theatre star Paul Nicholas, Colin Buchanan, best known for playing DI Pascoe for 11 years in the hit BBC television series Dalziel and Pascoe; Susan Penhaligon, who is probably best known for starring in the 1976 ITV drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire; Mark Curry of Blue Peter fame and Ben Nealon of award-winning series Soldier Soldier.

“As soon as we started rehearsals they were all so lovely and welcoming that they adopted me, even though at 29 I’m the youngest by quite a way. I learn from them every day and it’s a privilege to work with them.

“When you look at their cvs it’s just incredible. Paul Nicholas and I have become BFFs.”

The best advice Nicholas has given her is to stay calm and relaxed and have a “what will be, will be” attitude.

“I also think it helps that we have a great director in Joe Harmston because with Agatha Christie you don’t get a lot of meat to your character. Her plays are more plot-driven and more about whodunnit and dropping clues. With characterisation it’s more about putting the work in yourself. So, I spent a lot of time working out why my character Vera Claythorn had come to this island, just to give me some depth,” Rushworth says.

Having spent the bulk of her career on TV, the actress was accustomed to being miced.

“There is something about an old-school British accent where you have to watch your diction and projection and people are following the plot so carefully, but you don’t want to make it obvious. The 1930s accent is such a clipped tone that I’ve been working on my vocal ability to fill a room,” she says.

The Christie play originally had a title very much linked to the 1930s, using a word that only seems to appeal to Jeremy Clarkson these days.

“People that are fans do comment after the show – ‘it used to be called Ten Little N****** – and we can laugh at how much we’ve come today, but that was a word people used in those days,” Rushworth says.

A lot of people can’t remember the killer’s identity as ten guests on the island are picked off one by one, even though this is one of Christie’s most popular plays.

“I think that is down to the clever writing and you’re faced with ten murders plus a red herring,” explains the actress.

She’ll be leaving the play at the end of August because Rushworth feels she should move on after accomplishing something.

“I’ve just got married and I’ll be 30 in August and I feel that six months is enough. I’d rather miss it than feel I’d gone on too long,” she explains. “I have to admit that I’d never really seen much Agatha Christie before, but since doing this play I am now eager to read more. I was so gripped by the script that I’d read it in half-an-hour.

Bradford-born Rushworth counts Harrogate as her home town having spent 11 years on Emmerdale as Donna Windsor before taking time out to gain stage experience and then returning to the soap for a dramatic departure last year.

“I’ve definitely closed the door on Emmerdale because Donna died and the only way back is if she’s got a twin sister. You never say never in soap. Maybe Donna was on an undercover police mission and had to fake her own death.

“It was a massive story and earned a load of award nominations and I got short-listed at the National Television Awards. I suppose I did want to go out with a bang. A high,” explains Rushworth who had to take Donna through suffering with terminal cancer while carrying Marlon’s child.

“Having settled her child with relatives Donna fell in love with Ross while trying to plan a criminal mission to make money to leave behind when she died. It was like a Breaking Bad storyline of doing bad for the greater good, tied in with a love triangle and then ending with her handcuffing herself to a paedophile and throwing herself off a car park roof for a police pay-out for dying in the line of duty. It was a massive storyline. It was epic,” says Rushworth.

Did she ever feel there wasn’t a lot more that the soap writers could throw at her?

“Without a shadow of a doubt, I was action woman, romantic heroine, mother and terminally ill drug addict. I couldn’t have asked for any more. It was full on. I knew the whole thing from the start, which is very rare. Usually, in soapland you don’t know what’s coming from week to week. I had a head start and knew where Donna was going and could plan for it,” she says.

She would still do another soap and has enjoyed the security of a TV contract, but would prefer to be a totally different character to Donna. “I’d love a bit of Corrie,” she laughs.

Rushworth has taken her chances to gain stage experience having made her West End debut as Penny Pingleton in the musical Hairspray and later playing Maria Von Trapp in the UK tour of The Sound of Music, taking over the role from Connie Fisher.

“I like to set myself challenges. The first one was wanting to do a West End musical and then a straight play and then a period piece like this. There is far more to my character than meets the eye. At first you think she’s a lovely middle-class lady, very optimistic and eyeing up all the men and having a jolly good time on this island.

“Then we soon see her completely unravel and deteriorate as the weekend goes on, not only because of all the deaths, but also because she has a dark hidden secret that rears its ugly head.”

Rushworth calls the company a happy family and reveals that they go for a weekly Chinese meal “organised by Mark Curry who is the social butterfly and organises everything. Mark also brings his dog Charlie on tour and it really is more like a social club”.

Newcastle’s Chinatown will be waiting with baited breath.

*And Then There Were None appears at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Monday, July 27 to Saturday, August 1. Tickets from £14.50 (pay 50p less per ticket when you book online). Tickets can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448-112121 or theatreroyal.co.uk