Jenna Coleman admits she 'avoided' detective roles before The Jetty

The star of BBC's new police drama explained why she had been put off playing a detective in the past.

Katie Archer
·Contributor
Updated ·3 min read
Jenna Coleman plays a rookie detective in new BBC drama The Jetty. (BBC)
Jenna Coleman plays a rookie detective in new BBC drama The Jetty. (BBC)

Jenna Coleman has admitted her new role in The Jetty saw her do a U-turn on one of her career principles - not to play a detective.

The Victoria and Doctor Who star plays DC Ember Manning in BBC One's new police drama, a choice of role that she surprised herself with as she told The One Show she worried about it being a "cliche".

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman also appeared in the episode to talk about putting their friendship on the big screen for Deadpool & Wolverine.

We've seen Jenna Coleman as a murderer more than once, but never before on the side of upholding the law - until now, with her latest role in BBC police drama The Jetty.

The former Doctor Who and Victoria star plays DC Ember Manning in the thriller where she believes she has uncovered a sexual predator grooming young girls but is forced to consider the age gap with her own recently deceased husband.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 20: Jenna Coleman poses at a photocall for new BBC One Drama
Jenna Coleman will play a detective for the first time in the BBC drama. (Getty Images)

In an appearance on The One Show, host Roman Kemp asked her about having played murderers in Waterloo Road and Emmerdale in the past, wondering whether she had actively avoided playing detectives before.

Coleman replied: "Yes. I haven't actively chased the murder roles, they seem to keep coming my way for some strange reason.

"But I think the detective thing - it's so hard to not do the cliche. That's what I've always tried to avoid, how to not do the detective thing, the detective role."

The TV star said she was delighted to head back up North to film The Jetty, saying: "We wanted it to feel really beautiful but with something ominous and eerie. The place we found was midway between Manchester and Leeds in the Pennines. It was very hard to place exactly where it was, but it was cinematically very beautiful."

However one person who might have needed a little more convincing about the series was Coleman's own grandmother, a tennis fan, who was apparently worried about a scheduling clash. Coleman explained the series would begin the day after The Championships final: "It's on after Wimbledon, 100% I would have been recorded if it wasn't."

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 11: Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds attend the
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman told how Deadpool & Wolverine is their buddy movie. (WireImage)

Hollywood superstars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman also stopped in to talk about Deadpool & Wolverine, and how the film was the perfect chance for them to work together.

Reynolds said of Jackman returning to the character of Wolverine: "To see him come back and do it this way, in a different way, I mean it, this is not a joke, it has been the literal privilege of a lifetime for me. I feel like I've waited my whole life to do this film with him and that dream came true so I guess after this I'm out to pasture, pretty much done."

Jackman shared his own love for Reynolds, adding: "He is not only one of my best friends but also one of the funniest men on the planet. I have never had so much fun, every day I was laughing til I cried, literal tears every single day."

The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays.

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