What lies beneath?

ONCE upon a time there was an actor called Jack Davenport and an actress called Natasha Little, and they both found fame in This Life, a BBC series about trainee solicitors.

Then, they went their separate ways and enjoyed success on screens big and small before coming back together for this new ITV medical drama.

Back in the 1990s, he was Miles; she was Rachel. Fast forward 16 years and they are brilliant and charismatic gynaecological surgeon Otto Powell and his glamorous wife, Elizabeth.

For Natasha, being reunited with Jack was one of the perks of working on the drama, which is set in 1961, a time before legal abortions and when the pill was only available to married women.

“That was my big break,” she recalls of This Life. “Apart from being a fantastic job in itself, it created lots of future opportunities. It is great to be reunited with Jack because you know you are going to be working with someone who, firstly, is a terrific actor, and secondly, it is easy working with him because he is a very lovely man.”

She also admits to being intrigued by the scripts. “It was unlike anything I have read before. I was immediately gripped.

The stories are interweaving and you are desperate to find out what happens next.

As a cast we were given the first two scripts, then three and four, and we did not read five and six until we were shooting three and four.

“There would be times sitting in the make-up trailer when someone would have a script you are not allowed to see yet, and you are just going, ‘Oh give me a tidbit – what happens to Elizabeth?’“ Otto and Elizabeth appear to be the perfect couple, but we soon find out they are hiding a dark secret.

“It would seem to be a very happy marriage,”

says Natasha. “They are an affluent couple with a delightful son and enviable lifestyle. She is always impeccably dressed and socially graceful. Everything on the surface looks really polished, but what lies beneath?”

What indeed?

MICHAEL MOSLEY is the presenter of new magazine series Trust Me I’m A Doctor, which finds a group of medics investigating the science behind some of those medical stories.

The first episode calls at the Surrey Sleep Research Centre in Guildford, where surgeon Gabriel Weston and researchers are trying to discover whether an extra hour of shut-eye could reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Dr Saleyha Ahsan assess the accuracy of two leading methods of measuring fatness, while asking if it is possible to be overweight and healthy.

There is also a look at whether we should all be taking a low dose of aspirin every day, and a radical new treatment for people who suffer from tremors, but surely we don’t need a new series to tell us about the importance of washing our hands?

It turns out maybe we do, as infections disease doctor Chris Van Tullekhen inspects the nation’s mitts.

IF you were a fan of mid-1970s BBC drama The Brothers, Truckers, which centres on a haulage firm in Nottinghamshire, may also appeal.

Stockton-born Stephen Tompkinson heads the impressive cast as Malachi, who got divorced 18 months ago, but is still living in the family home with his former wife and grown-up son and fellow driver Glen (Harry Treadaway).

He has not moved on emotionally either, and is still hopeful his relationship can be fixed – until he discovers his wife is engaged to another man.

Malachi is also facing upheaval at work as the new boss Martin (John Dagliesh) unveils a revised roster that is supposed to increase productivity, but with the possible exception of office manager Michelle (Jenn Murray), none of the team is impressed.