IMAGINE a crime drama set in the north of Ireland with no reference to our troubled past. Hope Street, a new police drama from BBC Northern Ireland, is just that.
Set in the fictional town of Port Devine, the weekly drama which will air from Wednesday, focuses on the town's police department and the relationships within a small community.
It's co-creator and executive producer is Paul Marquess, from Belfast, whose TV credits include Brookside, The Bill, Hollyoaks and London Kills.
"From the outset we were determined that the series shouldn't be about the Troubles or serial killers, but should capture the warmth, good humour and resilience of people from Northern Ireland," he says.
Each episode features a self-contained crime story and in the first the sudden and mysterious arrival of English detective constable Leila Hussain, played by Amara Karan, the first Muslim police officer in the town's history, sets tongues wagging.
Duty inspector Finn O'Hare, played by Ciaran McMenamin, knows the real reason Leila's been transferred, but he's keeping it to himself.
Born to Sri Lankan parents, the London actress found being an outsider herself, in terms of ethnicity and accent, helped her get in character.
"I was performing in real-time and learning about Northern Ireland and its characters at the same pace as Layla, so it was very helpful," says the 37-year-old.
It isn't the first time Amara has played the role of a policeman, nor acted alongside actors from Northern Ireland. She played the straight-laced DS Suri Chohan, partner to James Nesbitt's maverick detective Harry Clayton in Stan Lee's Lucky Man on Sky One and romantic partner of Clayton's brother Rich, played by Greenisland's Stephen Hagan.
So what attracted her to the role?
"I was really intrigued about what would happen with this character. I loved that she is in a compromised situation in terms of her personal safety from the outset and so she has to assimilate, hide, duck and dive personal questions, and yet she sticks out in her new environment like a sore thumb.
"Leyla falls in love with the place and the people," she hints.
Amara admits that she was also intrigued about her character's relationship with Northern Ireland – because she too has always had "a bit of a twinkle" for the north.
"I had visited Portrush before and I know some people from Northern Ireland and you know sometimes you exoticise," she laughs.
"There has always been that wonder, which strangely led me this way to Hope Street," says Amara, whose other credits include the movie Darjeeling Limited alongside Owen Wilson and the HBO crime drama mini-series, The Night Of.
Amara is delighted to report that living and working here last spring and early summer did live up to her expectations, despite the fact filming took place under strict Covid regulations.
"We had a cast of local characters. Dez McAleer (who plays retired RUC officer Barry Pettigrew) is one cheeky, funny bloke who made me laugh like no-one else.
"But I met so many wonderful people. I just think the Northern Irish have such wit and dark sense of humour," she enthuses.
Hope Street is filmed in the Co Down town of Donaghadee and one thing Amara wasn't so fond of was "the wind chill factor".
"Donaghadee is beautiful, You can see different weather systems in the distance over England, Scotland and the Isle of Man and enjoy rainbows on the horizon. But it's also very deceiving. It can be sunny, but at the same time freezing cold."
Being based beside a harbour, it was inevitable the Hope Street police would be called out to sea and Amara confesses that these scenes were far from her favourite, as she experienced a bad tummy.
"I was a little seasick, but we had Brian from Donaghadee Boat Club looking after us. I managed to stay on the boat, do all the filming and not puke," she laughs.
The first episode sees her character arrive at the annual Port Devine festival of sea swimming. Whilst she wasn't scripted to take part, like her fellow cast mate Ciaran McMenamin, I asked Amara if she took a dip in the Irish Sea?
"No. It was so cold and I was too chicken," she confesses.
However, currently based in south Dublin where she is filming the sci-fi utopian series Moonhaven, she has donned her wetsuit and broken her "Irish Sea virginity".
"I've been in the sea about 14 times now," adds Amara, who, all being well, will take the plunge in Donaghadee in the future.
Amara is excited to be involved in "this completely different" programme, set 150 years in the future.
"I am playing the President of the Earth and travelling to the moon to organise the transfer of the colony and the artificial intelligence technology back to earth, where resources have all been depleted," she explains about the series, which will air on the American television station AMC in 2022.
After studying politics, philosophy and economics at university, Amara worked as an investment banker, before following her heart into acting.
"That was me being sensible and trying to get a proper job and then realising I was not cut out for that. It was really boring and soul-destroying, says Amara.
So, no desire to switch careers again and go into policing?
"No way," she laughs heartily. "But I have a lot of respect for the police. It's a really tough job," adds Amara, who reveals that the cast of Hope Street were supported by an onset police adviser.
"He had worked in both English and the Northern Irish police force and he was really instrumental in terms of advising what protocol we had to observe."
Made with support from Northern Ireland Screen, Hope Street is a co-commission between BritBox North America, BBC NI and BBC Daytime.
Locals viewers get their first glimpse of the 10-part series from this week, before it is screened in Britain and America in the new year.
"The prospect of a worldwide audience is really exciting. I hope they enjoy the warmth and wit of all of these small town characters, who might have their disagreements, but in the end, always have each other's back," says Amara.
The ensemble cast includes Broadway star, Rachel Tucker, as Siobhan O'Hare, and north Belfast's Kerri Quinn, who recently featured in Coronation Street, as Sergeant Marlene Pettigrew.
Bríd Brennan, who played Miss Kelly in 2015's Brooklyn, takes on the role of Concepta O'Hare, while Niall Wright (6 Degrees) is in the role of PC Callum McCarthy and Aaron McCusker from Shameless plays Clint Dunwoody.
The first episode of Hope Street will air on BBC One Northern Ireland on Wednesday November 24 at 7pm, and afterwards on BBC iPlayer.
