Interview with Ashley Jensen

Tell us about your character, Debbie?
Debbie is incredibly conscientious and takes her job very seriously. It means a lot to her and she wants to make a difference.

What attracted you to this series?
It’s something a bit different for me. I've been involved in a lot of comedy over the years and I’m predominantly known for comedy, so when I saw this script I was drawn to it because it was so different. As a psychological thriller it takes twists and turns and it’ll hopefully keep the audience guessing right until the end.

As well as the amazing script, the series was filmed in Glasgow. I haven’t worked there for many years, so that appealed to me too. It’s been such a long time since I was there and a lot has changed, but at the same time, reassuringly, some things have stayed the same.

Debbie is a physiotherapist who’s very committed to her job. How did you prepare for the role?
It was difficult to physically prepare for the role because I was working on another job until the week before. Most of us have had physio, so that helped me a lot more than I thought, and we also had advisors on set to answers any questions we had.

There were scenes you filmed in the hydro pool. Were they particularly challenging to film?
Those scenes were particularly challenging as Alfie and I were in the water for the best part of 12 hours, in an old disused pool in Glasgow in November. It was freezing. In fact at one point we had hot water bottles actually IN the pool with us!

Does Debbie like Jamie?
Yes absolutely. Debbie likes him a lot and cares immensely for him. He is her patient and she understands the challenges he is facing. She knows when he becomes frustrated and deals with it in a no-nonsense, straightforward approach.

Do you have any other scenes that stand out?
At times the scenes we had were very sensitive, they were of a traumatised young man suffering from PTSD so we had to be mindful of that.

It was wonderful filming so many scenes in the locations in the hospital. It was filmed an old Victorian school which really added to the weight and the heavy gothic atmosphere of the show, but the standout scenes for me were in the water.

Why should viewers tune in to Trust Me?
It’s dark and ominous and has a real sense of foreboding in a very ordinary everyday setting of a hospital. There are people who do these jobs every day in a very specific ward of very vulnerable people, who are embarking on a life very different from the one they had. When something untoward begins to occur the fact that the patients have limited movement and are suffering from trauma heightens the emotional drama of the piece.

Character breakdowns

Corporal Jamie McCain, played by Alfred Enoch
Corporal Jamie McCain is both tough and intelligent. His world is one of physical capability, getting on and doing, not talking about it. The kind of person you would describe as a man of action. As the story begins, the man of action finds himself unable to walk. Frozen both physically and emotionally, and suspected of suffering from PTSD, it looks like Jamie might never recover. But when patients on the unit die unexpectedly he becomes obsessed, determined to uncover the truth - and although he doesn’t know it, this is the first step in his rehabilitation. But are patients really being murdered? Or is that just the paranoid conclusion of a man with an unstable mind?

Dr. Archie Watson (clinical lead), payed by John Hannah
Dr Archie Watson is the unit’s clinical lead, whose bad jokes and awkward persona hide a seedier and much more sinister side. Archie is basically hiding in Neuro Rehab, devoting most of his time to minimizing his workload and avoiding trouble. Archie may appear indifferent, but he’s also manipulative and will stop at nothing to save his own skin. Despite his marriage, Archie often oversteps the mark with his female colleagues. His ‘technique’ works very well with a certain type of woman.

Debbie Dorrell (head physio), played by Ashley Jensen
Head physiotherapist Debbie can be sharp-tongued, and often gets on the wrong side of people without meaning to. Debbie is a fantastic physiotherapist, she’s a professional who’s fiercely committed to her patients. Sometimes she pushes a little too hard, but she always gets there in the end.

Dr. Zoe Wade, played by Katie Clarkson-Hill
Zoe has always been smart, but even qualifying as a doctor hasn’t quite pushed down her feelings of insecurity and imposter syndrome. Everyone around her seems so confident that she’s sure she’ll be found out any minute. Up until now, Zoe’s solution has been to try and embrace the conventional. Even in her relationships - she is currently engaged to Alex - she’s played it safe. And the safe option is working, sort of. So why isn’t she happy? Alex has been there for Zoe through dark times, but she’s much better now - or so she’d like him to think.

Dr. Alex Kiernan, played by Richard Rankin
A career neurologist, Alex is training to become a consultant. On the surface he is a fun, attractive and dedicated doctor. But all of this belies his steely ambition, and we sense an undercurrent of threat beneath his professional exterior. Alex’s desire to protect Zoe means that he doesn’t always recognise her boundaries, but if this is a problem for Zoe, then Alex is unaware.

Dr. Laila Karimi (clinical psychologist), played by Amiera Darwish
An exceptionally intelligent and intuitive woman, Laila loves being a psychologist. Sometimes she can come off a bit more like a scientist than a human being - which suggests she’s probably not as ‘stable’ as she’d like to think she is. Her friendship with Zoe is real - an opposites attract dynamic - but does Zoe know the real Laila, or is she hiding behind her clinical persona?

Parveen Shankar (pathologist), played by Manjinder Virk
Parveen is a studious and efficient pathologist and a stickler for the rules. But she is also strong and capable of standing up for herself when she’s faced with difficult situations. Others may assume that they can walk all over her - but it’s often the quiet ones you have to watch out for...

Danny Adams (patient), played by Elliot Cooper
Danny is a handful. His mind fizzes at a hundred miles a minute with technology stats, conspiracy theories and an obsessive love of Doctor Who. When Jamie arrives on the unit Danny self-appoints himself as his best mate, and soon takes Jamie into his confidence. Is Danny just a conspiracy nut, or could he actually be on to something?

Related Programme Information

• Episode one
• Episode two