'It's gutting but glorious'

It's the plot twist nobody saw coming. The delight viewers felt when Lady Monica Baddingham finally left cheating husband Tony (David Tennant) in the last episode of Rivals released back in May, was short-lived, as she died in a car crash just hours later, leaving fans devastated.

Actress Claire Rushbrook reveals she, too, was shocked when the news was broken to her by the show’s executive producers Alex Lamb and Dominic Treadwell-Collins. “I thought it was just a lovely champagne lunch,” says Rushbrook. “Then they walloped me round the head with it.

“They were incredibly gracious but you know when you fall over and very quickly get up and style it out? It felt like that. They reassured me about the quality of the death scene and how impactful the storyline would be, so it was hard to feel entirely sad, because there was also great excitement.

“I have big, different feelings: immense pride at incredible scenes to play, and the tangible reaction from the audience. But it’s also absolutely gutting. Gutting and glorious.”

As the second series returns, we see flashbacks to Monica dying while being comforted by Rupert (Alex Hassell). Rushbrook says she approached the scenes with a lightness, as she was nervous of putting too much pressure on herself.

“I haven’t played many deaths,” she says. “You feel acutely responsible to bring a believable version of it, but if I’d prepped for weeks and stayed up all night worrying, I wouldn’t have given a truthful performance. She’s dying, she’s weak, there’s no room for anything other than simple honesty.”

Rushbrook, 55, has long been a stalwart of British drama, with roles in Mike Leigh’s film Secret and Lies, and TV shows such as Sherwood. But as the daughter of teachers and from a family who would holiday in a caravan in France, she admits to nerves at playing landed gentry.

She worked with a vocal coach to master Monica’s cut-glass accent, and studied upperclass Clarissa Dickson Wright, from the 90s cookery show Two Fat Ladies. “I felt intimidated,” says Rushbrook. “I was keen for it not to be a caricature. Sometimes, in Waitrose particularly, people almost give a little curtsy: a demure, discreet acknowledgement. They don’t look in my trolley, though, otherwise they’d see wine and Wotsits, not pheasant and grouse!”

Would Rushbrook like to meet Monica, if she were a real person? “Oh, yes! She would be great company. I’m someone who picks up the accents and mannerisms of people I’m with, so I’d probably pretend to be grander and more well-bred than I am! Monica was quiet and contained but she also had a naughty side and a twinkle, and I think I would have encouraged that side after a couple of stiff gin and tonics.”

Now that she has said goodbye to Monica forever, how will Rushbrook look back on playing her? “I’ve loved everything about her,” she says. “And I am greatly relieved that she was not a fan of outdoor sex and vigorous nudity! It’s been a privilege to play a woman discovering herself. The complexity and the truthfulness of that has made a painful exit very nourishing and rewarding.”