Jackson's Women

What makes Case Histories so different to other crime dramas is the plethora of strong women characters.

"I find female characters interesting," says the series' writer, Kate Atkinson. "I had to construct Jackson Brodie out of male attributes and put him together and sort of pretend I knew what went on inside a male head. When I'm writing male characters I'm much more conscious of what I'm doing. When I'm writing female ones, no matter who they are, or where they've come from, or what age they are, I have some bizarre presumption that I know exactly what they'll be like or what they'll be thinking, which I think is very strange. To put yourself in the mind of, say, a five year old girl, is no different than stretching yourself to imagine being inside the head of a 43 year old man, but somehow, for me, writing female characters is like falling off a log."

The female members of the cast recognised what a refreshing change it was for a drama to be so heavily populated by strong and interesting female roles.

"That's what I loved at the read through," says Zawe Ashton, who plays Jackson's assistant Deborah. "There was a whole line of us girls who were in the first couple of episodes and I thought: this is actually a really 'woman-heavy' piece. I love the idea that the camera could swing away to any one of these characters and have them be at the centre of the piece."

Josie Brodie

Kirsty Mitchell had the tough challenge of playing a character that had made a significant transformation from the books to the script.

As Jackson's ex-wife, the character of Josie carries a lot of responsibility in that the audience is aware she is the closest female character to him and their relationship has broken down before the beginning of the show.

"You're trying to represent what was there before, " says Mitchell. "You don't want to come across as just this moaning, hysterical and emotionally crazy ex-wife. You have to present why they were together. What we wanted to show was that she's strong, but that there is a certain vulnerability about her that really relies on him.

"They haven't split up that long, and he was the love of her life, so that's all got to be there but she's still got to have this guardedness, which we then sometimes present as anger. Fear can come out in completely the wrong way - as love can come out as hate."

For the most part, both Atkinson and the production see Jackson as the rock upon which everybody else washes, but scenes with Josie provide rare moments whereby he is seen from a different, vulnerable angle.

"Everything else is professional for him, but their relationship is emotional. So you get to see a glimpse of who he is behind the mask," says Mitchell.

Mitchell and Isaacs took time to discuss their back-story as characters, why they got married, why they spilt up and what might have failed in the marriage for them to reach the point at which the audience joins them.

"We did some improvisation, which we don't always get the chance to do. So it was really nice to get to know each other that way, and use a lot of that stuff."

Deborah Arnold

Zawe Ashton was immediately attracted to the character Deborah from her reading at the audition, not least because the actor tells us, "I'm the complete opposite of her.

"I'm not a logical person in any way, shape or form," she says, referring to Deborah's secretarial role, "so in a way she's quite far away from me because she's really organised. I don't really possess any of those qualities; I'm quite a free flowing kind of person. However, what was interesting was the idea of zoning in on what I might be like if I had those qualities.

"I could tell instantly that the character was quite sparkly. She is pretty straight up and down in terms of what she wants and that's refreshing. Women don't always get the chance to be 'I am what I am.' People might want to say to you 'Are you a bit rude because something happened in your past?' And I say, 'No. I know what I'm doing. And I'm here and surviving,' which lots of people aren't."

Jackson and Deborah form a new relationship, unlike the rest of the key female characters with whom he possesses an intricate back-story. As the series progresses, the audience sees their relationship grow.

"We see that perhaps the dismissiveness she had for him changes the more she gets to know him," notes producer Helen Gregory.

"I don't think there is anything within her that is deliberately rude or kind of bad hearted or cold hearted," says Zawe. "She fits into a role with him because she can tell that he is a bit lost. She can feel what he needs and supplies that rigorously organised touch to the work, so it's perfect pairing."

Deborah also gets blessed with a number of one-liners. Zawe saw this as an opportunity to bring her own interpretation to the role.

"What was really lovely was that, after my initial audition process, the producers could tell I wasn't afraid to stand out in a role that offered some comedy. I think they went away and spoke to the writers and built up her part."

DI Louise Munroe

Case Histories offered Amanda Abbington the chance to engage in a project that combined a unique mix of serious and dark, punctuated by flashes of humour.

"I'm usually interested in a scripts that combine elements of humour and tragedy, because that mirrors life. You can hear of a terrible thing that's happened and five minutes later something will make you laugh. I think in comedy and drama you have to have both of those things and I think that's what this has got," she says.

After some wonderful comedy roles over the years, for Abbington the character DI Louise Munroe was an exciting departure. Far removed from her usual roles, she makes no bones about the fact it was this challenge that she found most enjoyable.

"To play something quite serious is quite refreshing. I did a show called 'Married, Single, Other' where there was also a lot of tragedy and a lot of humour, but my character was mainly self-deprecating. To do something quite serious with not a lot of smiling this time was refreshing."

Abbington believes her character offers a picture of female determination.

"She's really had to claw her way up in the police force and I think she doesn't take any rubbish from anybody, she's very hard. She's been hardened by her past experiences in life and doesn't suffer fools gladly: the complete opposite to me, actually.

"I'm a big softie and I'll cry at the drop of the hat. Playing a part where you have to be really hard is interesting to do. My default is usually to go [she smiles and chuckles girlishly]'."

The accent also put Abbington out of her comfort zone.

"I'm doing a Scottish accent in front of lots of Scottish people up in Scotland, so I've played it quite quietly."

As a policewoman, DI Munroe represents the enforcement of rules and regulations against which Jackson rails, yet she is also the most dominant female in his life and the one who he uses as a crutch, even if that's something he fails to ever acknowledge. But, like Jackson, Munroe equally relies on him whether she wants to admit it or not.

"She's a loner and sees a lot of herself in Jackson because he's like that as well," says Abbington.

Edward Corrie, who plays DC Marcus Stewart, believes Abbington's character offers a maternal shoulder to his character of a wet behind the ears detective constable.

"She's very maternal, yes, very patient with him," he laughs. "I think that's part of the tension between Marcus and Jackson because there's jealousy there perhaps. I think there is definitely a desire to prove himself, to look good in her eyes. The relationship is very soft."

Gregory agrees - "Louise has huge compassion and engages with people. I think that's why she likes him, that's why there is a bond," she says.

"Louise helps him out because she knows he's sorting things out, often outside the law, in ways that she can't as a copper," says Isaacs.

The chemistry between them is palpable on screen, yet both characters struggle to communicate their feelings to each other. Abbington has her theories:

"I think he's the first person, probably the only person, that she's ever really loved," she says.

Isaacs agrees. "She not only respects him but there's a small fire burning for him somewhere and obviously there's a huge one in him for her. However, she knows it'd be a disaster to be involved with him."

Marlee Brodie

Millie Innes is the youngest actress in the show playing a principle role. As Jackson's daughter there is a huge responsibility to deliver because as a character she has such an effect on Jackson's life. Despite her age, both Isaacs and Mitchell comment on the professionalism of the young actor.

Isaacs admits working with Innes really helped push him to deliver his best, "I love acting with kids," he says. "Kids don't let you get away with anything fake. If you're not engaging them, you're not engaging with them. You've got to ask them a question like you want an answer if you want to get an answer out of them."

"Nothing bothered her and she was so easy to work with and she just had it down," says Mitchell. "She's perceptive and intuitive as far as what needs to be done on screen. A lovely little girl."

The importance in her character lies in the possibility that Marlee is Jackson's Achilles' heel. Through his relationship with her, the audience sees where his problems lie with his own life."