In this series an amusement arcade collapses, can you tell us about that?
A young girl gets trapped inside the ruins when an arcade collapses and Stella attends the scene with Ormerod and Frankie. There is a small gap and the firemen can’t fit inside – so being small, Stella offers to go in and find her. Unfortunately, it doesn’t all go according plan and she ends up getting trapped inside there herself. It’s quite an exciting episode!
What was it like filming the scenes?
It was really hard actually. The special effects team did a fantastic job because the warehouse where we filmed everything was so realistic. They were literally dropping dust, corrugated iron and steel beams on us all day! We were obviously completely safe but it was quite scary and there were things coming at as from every direction. I was genuinely frightened and kept screaming which came across really well on screen.
Did you have a stunt double?
I had a stunt double for the rehearsals because I’d had a small shunt in my car and injured my arm. Everything you see in the episode is me and all the exterior scenes where I’m climbing over the rubble I did as well. I’m a bit of an action hero now.
Did you enjoy filming the scenes?
I really did enjoy it. The actress who played the young girl trapped in the arcade was brilliant. We were wet and cold and she just kept on going and looking on the bright side of things. It took just over three days, and for most of the time I was lying there for hours and hours with things being thrown on top of me! I didn’t want to move because it would have meant we’d have had to re-rig everything.
Did you feel claustrophobic?
I didn’t feel too claustrophobic because thankfully I was looking up and was able to see out and see everything going on around me, but if I had been stuck in the tunnel the whole time I would have been very claustrophobic!
