How has Martha's character developed in series two?

I don't know whether Martha has developed much as a character as we seem to stay well away from her personal life in this series and focus on her cases much more.

I think if anything she's becoming tougher but it hasn't been easy.

Maxine Peake as Martha Costello QC

You said "it would be extremely challenging for me to play Martha" when series one came out. What was most challenging about it?

I think convincing myself I could credibly play a barrister.

When you have an accent as specific as mine people do tend to pigeon-hole you. Especially as far as class and education are concerned.

I think people associate being middle class with a lack of accent. That is not the case, especially up north, and that a university education would neutralise any accent. We really need to change our way of thinking!

The amount of dialogue to learn too bordered sometimes on the impossible!

How do you get into character?

I have to create a detailed back story for each character I play.

I find it really useful to use music, literature and art as keys to their personality. What they like to listen to, read. Art that stimulates them. I find a song or painting which I think represents them.

A friend of mine, Lex Shrapnel, said to me after a Fleet Foxes concert that the beautiful thing about music is that you can tell a whole story in a few minutes and I think that goes for encapsulating a character's inner life.

Peter [Moffat] very kindly would adapt his scripts to fit my back story too. Which was fantastic.

Tell us a bit about Clive and Martha's relationship and how they test each other over the series.

Martha and Clive are now the best of friends and as with the people you love the most, they challenge and taunt each other.

I adore their relationship. As Rupert put it perfectly: they are like brother and sister who sometimes get a little confused!

Did you do any further research for series two?

I went back to the Old Bailey for a couple of days with Rupert this time and we sat in on a murder trial.

I also met up with a female QC at a chambers in Manchester and she talked me through the highs and lows.

With the cuts to legal aid it's very difficult at the moment and hopefully if Silk goes to a third series Peter might highlight that.

How do you feel during this period between finishing shooting and the programme airing?

I fortunately went straight into another job so didn't give it much thought. Although this year I felt we became much more of a team and did miss everyone a little.

We had the fabulous Frances Barber, Indira Varma, Phil Davis and Shaun Evans on board so we all had to up our game.

Can you enjoy watching your performance on screen or does it make you uncomfortable?

I hate it! It sends me into the depths of despair!

Which of the actors did you most enjoy working with?

I love my scenes with Neil Stuke, he's such an open and energetic actor you just have to react to him.

I bloody love Rupert, he's funny and terribly self-deprecating and I was over the moon when Shaun Evans joined us. He's such a great actor and I've always had a wee bit of a crush on him, but don't tell him that!

What was your personal highlight?

Getting to finally meet Frances Barber. What a woman!

Maxine Peake plays Martha Costello QC in Silk.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Director Philip Martin told the BBC TV blog about the experience of making the two-part drama.

What drew you to this script?
Abi Morgan's brilliant idea was to intercut between past and present, so that the story switches between pre-war France and WWI itself - to create a great tension. Balancing the love story (the past) with the war story (the present) was the challenge.

What kind of notes did Sebastian Faulks make on the script?
Sebastian was a great collaborator and joined us on location in Budapest. He gave us space to do our thing - but was there to help if we needed it. We all carried battered copies of the novel in our back pockets and I think everyone in the cast and crew spent the whole time trying to find ways to do justice to this epic story.

What does the title mean?
Birdsong doesn't quite stand for a peaceful, natural sound marking the ending of conflict - but actually the indifference of the natural world to the activity of humans. There's a great introduction to the paperback edition from Sebastian, where he talks about the meaning of Birdsong and how he wrote the book. It's fascinating to read, especially as it seems he wrote the book really fast - in a kind of trance.

Isabelle Azaire (Clémence Poésy) and Stephen Wraysford (Eddie Redmayne)

This BBC version of Birdsong is described as "painterly" by Ben Stephenson (BBC controller for drama commissioning) - is that how you visualised it?
I wanted pre-war France to feel like a dream: crystal clear yet mysterious. The director of photography, Julian Court and I found a touchstone in a quote from the pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones, who said a painting should be "a beautiful, romantic dream of something that never was, never will be - in a light better than any light that ever shone - in a land no-one can define or remember, only desire... ".

What were your thoughts on tackling the erotic tone in parts of the book?
It's difficult in any area to translate something from a book to a film - they're both different. But it's particularly tricky with sex. Eddie Redmayne, Clémence Poésy and I spent long hours talking about it and we tried to be very clear about exactly what was going to happen in each moment - so that the build-up of sexual tension was done in a very precise and detailed way. What we tried to do was to make the experience of the audience watching match the intensity of the experience of reading the book.

There are two horrifying deaths in episode one - typical of WWI - how did you decide how gory to be in showing those deaths?
I suppose you try to make the deaths as powerful as possible, without making the audience switch off. The war was brutal and inhuman, with new technological ways of killing, like gas - so it feels important to reflect that fact... but to do so in a way that isn't self-defeating.

Did the actors visit war graves or the sites of conflict?
Both Eddie Redmayne and Joe Mawle visited the battlefields - and went into a newly discovered chalk tunnel in La Boiselle, with Peter Barton, a WWI historical consultant. I think they were some of the first people to be back inside the tunnel since the war itself. They found a poem, written on the chalk wall of the tunnel by a soldier almost 100 years earlier, which was incredibly moving. I also found the 1916 film of the Battle of the Somme extremely useful for research. Even in black and white, you could feel how hot and dusty it was and get a sense of the strange, upbeat energy of the soldiers - which was unlike anything I'd seen before.

Were the sets built or on location?
For the war story, we built sets just outside Budapest. I felt the audience's experience of the trenches should be 360, so we searched for a piece of ground which gave us uninterrupted views of the horizon. Production designer Grant Montgomery used hundreds of dead trees, quarried chalk and reclaimed timber to create an extraordinary world. For the French story, set in pre-war Amiens, we filmed on location in Budapest. This was perhaps the trickiest bit, as there's no tradition of the kind of architecture we were looking for.

Can you tell us a little about the uniforms?
We couldn't find enough uniforms in London - and so decided to make them in Poland. Charlotte Walter the costume designer tracked down a company using looms that made exactly the same cloth the original uniforms, and under the watchful eye of the curator of costumes at the Imperial War Museum, Martin Boswell.

Where do you find the replica guns?
We brought some working guns over from London - which gets complicated and requires lots of paperwork, as everyone seems to think you're about to stage a coup! We also had some terrific Lee-Enfield replicas made in Budapest.

How does an actor safely smash a glass on set without getting hurt in the way that Laurent Lafitte (playing René Azaire) does in episode one?
The glass is made out of spun sugar, so it can smash without being dangerous.

What was your worst moment in production?
There was a day when were due to film a lyrical summer picnic sequence when - predictably - after days of sunshine, the Budapest monsoon began. But the day also contained one of my favourite moments, when Stephen and Isabelle's ankles touch on the boat trip. It's all about body language and eyes and faces... like a wildlife film but with humans in it.

Philip Martin is the director of Birdsong.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

June Whitfield and Joanna Lumley had a brief moment to answer some questions about the new series, written by and starring Jennifer Saunders.

Bubble (Jane Horrocks), Saffy (Julia Sawalha), Edina (Jennifer Saunders), Mother (June Whitfield) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley)

What was your first thought when you were asked to make the 20th anniversary specials?
June: Hooray!
Joanna: I thought hurrah! Back with the old team again! Back to the delights of playing Patsy again!

How long did you think about it for before saying yes?
June: Two seconds.
Joanna: A nanosecond!

Twenty years on, how would you describe Edina and Mother's relationship now?
June: As ever, Eddy can't wait to be rid of Mother - but Mother is somehow always there.

What has changed and what has endured about Patsy?
Joanna: She is much the same as ever: hair, fab clothes, ghastly habits, keen on a tincture, best friends with Eddy.

What was the funniest moment in making the specials - on or off camera?
June: Just watching Jennifer, Joanna, Jane and Julia and the studio audience reaction - tremendous.
Joanna: Watching the others inhabiting their characters. Julia is as bad at corpsing as ever.

Jennifer is said to be generous about including new script suggestions during shooting. Did you suggest any lines to be added to the script?
Joanna: We all suggest things; Jennifer selects what she wants or leaves things at the wayside.
June: I added only one small one: "Nothing for the car boot sale then."

Are you going to watch the show like the rest of us on Christmas evening?
June: Depending on what my family is doing - I have already seen it at a special screening for the cast and crew. I fell about laughing and I hope the viewers will feel the same.
Joanna: I am longing to see them all. I'm in a play at the moment so I missed the screening and will only get to watch the shows when they go out on television.

June Whitfield plays Mother and Joanna Lumley plays Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Marc told the BBC TV blog about how he filmed the stories of the people involved in the court cases.

How did you decide on the subject for this documentary?
The idea for this film came from the controller of BBC Four, Richard Klein. He wanted, as part of the Justice season, to have a film featuring ordinary people.

He asked me if I would be interested in this subject because he knows I am drawn to the lives of ordinary people. [Marc made All White In Barking, as part of the BBC's White season, and Calais: The Last Border.] The rest is history, or recent history.

Did you have any sort of security while on the steps or was that not necessary?
No, just my colleague Guy King, who was my researcher and second camera person. But he's soft too, so we were totally vulnerable, but that's the best way.

Did you feel intimidated by any of the people you needed to approach for the film?
No not at all. I run a mile from intimidating people. I go for the ones with soft centres. The ones who are willing to open their hearts and tell of the deeper reasons why they regularly find themselves in front of the judge.

The court deals with all of the usual cases that any magistrates' court would see on a day to day basis, from drug and drink-related offences to violence and motor offences.

Mark [who was in court for breaching bail conditions] and Michel, the Frenchman, were just two of the characters who were more than happy to share their lives with us.

Who were you most interested by, of all the people you met on the steps?
Each for different reasons but Michel stole my heart.

He was in court for carrying an offensive weapon because he wanted to exact revenge on a security guard who he claims had been violent towards him.

On the way to commit this crime, Michel changed his mind and called the police to hand.

The best moment in the film, for me, is when Michel opens his heart to us in the cafe. This is the centre of the film, in my view.

Were people hostile to you at first? What did you say to open the conversations and bring them round?
I approach people in a non-threatening way and just try to treat them as an equal and then act instinctively from there.

Is there a culture of people like journalists and paparazzi waiting on court steps? Did you get friendly with any of the other people waiting outside?
Every time the paparazzi turned up we went home. I despise those people, they are like vultures and I didn't want to be associated with them.

Did the programme turn out how you expected?
Film-making is a discovery. There are always surprises and thank God for that.

Most TV today eliminates the element of discovery in documentary. I want to fight to keep this idea alive. These kinds of films thrive on freedom and spontaneity.

What was the worst moment?
Waiting in winter for hours with nobody interesting turning up at court. I am not good in the cold.

Did you make any friends in the process of the programme?
I will stay in touch with a few of the characters but our relationship will always be defined by the experience of filming together. It's a friendship of a particular kind.

What was the most interesting thing that happened, or that you learned?
I learn something new in every film but, for me, I am pleased that we managed to make a film like this without moving too far away from the court itself. We tread a fine line but pull it off hopefully.

Presumably the story would be ever-changing - would you like to do it again or was once enough?
There is no story until you as the film-makers create one. So yes, if I did it again it would be very different but once is enough of course. I am ready for the next film now.

Outside The Court is on BBC Four at 9pm on Monday, 31 January.

Fiona Wickham is editor of the BBC TV blog.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

The BBC blogs homepage has just been relaunched so that it showcases all the blogs all the better. To take you through the redesign, product manager Jessica Shiel has written this post on the BBC Internet blog.

As TV fans you may well have already seen the blogs from EastEnders, Comedy, Strictly, Watchdog and more... but just have a browse through the A to Z at the bottom of the new blogs homepage just to appreciate how varied the range is!

There's a short pop-up survey on the new homepage for feedback (more details in Jessica's post) and of course, you can leave any comments about the new homepage on her post.

Fiona Wickham is the editor of the BBC TV blog.

Victoria Wood is also the executive producer of the programme. It was her idea to focus the story on the pair's boyhood friendship when they were child performers in variety shows, and their efforts to get established in the mainstream.

I got a quick chance to ask Jim about his part in the production.

How did you come to be involved in Eric & Ernie?
My agent rang me to go for a reading with Victoria Wood. I didn't feel nervous. I got called back, and then I got a phone call to say yes, you're doing it.

Was it a laugh working with Victoria, or serious hard work?
It was pretty much work because things moved quite fast during filming, but we did go out a couple of nights. We did some people-watching which was quite good fun.

Which is your favourite Morecambe and Wise sketch?
I seem to remember seeing one years ago when they were watching Frank Sinatra from the side of the stage doing a song. It made me laugh a lot.

Did you like wearing the vintage outfits?
It was like a busman's holiday for me. I could have taken my own wardrobe! [laughs] I like doing period stuff, especially the 1930s.

What was the hardest bit of production?
Nothing really, because it's fun. I think if you like what you're doing, it's not hard. Don't know if acting is hard. I think if you think it is you're in the wrong profession.

What was your favourite moment?
Probably the first scene I filmed when it was torrential rain. Me and Sadie [Eric Morecambe's mum, as played by Victoria Wood], we had to do a tender scene on the bench and then sun suddenly came out. [See video above]. It was the most brilliant sunset. It heralded the rest of the production for me. It was just a great moment.

What touches you the most about this story?
I suppose it was three parts - the Eric and Ernie story and my part as George, he was having to put up with quite a bit with Sadie being away, but he got his life back in the end.

The scene where George and Sadie are sitting with all the people in the area at their house watching Eric and Ernie in their first TV show, Running Wild, and they weren't very good.

I'm not sure if you'd call it touching but it's poignant. It must have been difficult for the parents to have invited the whole neighbourhood round and the show turns out to be a flop.

The film is like a very moving ballad, there are high points and low points. So when you stop crying, you started laughing.

Victoria said she wanted a man to write the script, to capture the authenticity of the men's friendship. What was your first thought when you read the script?
When I first got the script I looked at my part first and I immediately liked him, and then I read the whole story and I thought it was quite gripping and it moves along at a pace. Every word was right, there wasn't any point where I questioned it.

Jim Moir plays George Bartholomew, father of Eric Morecambe, in Eric & Ernie.

Fiona Wickham is the editor of the BBC TV blog.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Flavia Cacace is performing a specially choreographed Argentine Tango Unleashed - and the BBC experimented by filming it in 3D.

Flavia's dance was made into a trailer, which will be showing on 3D cinema screens and 3D TV screens around the UK for two weeks from today.

It's in support of Children in Need, which is on BBC One on Friday, 19 November.

It won't look like 3D on the web (as you need special 3D glasses to view it!) but if you fancy going behind the scenes to see how it was made, watch the short film on the Strictly blog.

Fiona Wickham is editor of the BBC TV blog

It's the most reactive playout room in the world - when a news story breaks, a football match overruns or an election is called, the staff have to move extremely fast.

You can have a peep at the continuity announcer - whose voice you'll totally recognise as the 'voice of BBC One' but whose face you've probably never seen - rehearsing the junctions.

Watch the video on the HD website. There's also a good FAQs page for all things BBC One HD.

Also on the About The BBC blog, Joe Godwin, the director of BBC Children's is talking about his 20 years in children's programmes - and the mission of his department today:

"Who would have thought that one of the most popular and talked about shows on any children's channel in 2010 is about history (Horrible Histories)? Who could have imagined that the most watched drama on any children's channel is based on British books about a young girl in the care system (Tracy Beaker Returns)? And who would guess that programmes about dealing with bereavement, bullying or protecting yourself online would be getting kids across the UK talking (Newsround specials)?"

Fiona Wickham is editor of the BBC TV blog.

As always, aspiring candidates were encouraged to apply via the BBC website. The most impressive applicants are then invited to the interview process at which point we are always able to sift out the chancers and wannabes.

I always look at the final CVs and scrutinise every one. Ultimately one of these candidates will eventually have to join my organisation and that is something I take extremely seriously.

What was your favourite moment of series six?

There are some great moments in this series but a particular favourite of mine was the international task where they will have to sell crisps to the Germans, who, let's just say, have a very particular taste preference.

What was the worst moment of all the series?

It's never good when candidates who are experienced in a particular field end up under-performing in a task that lends itself to their apparent skill set. This happens during the new series and it really gets on my wick.

What advice would you have for 16-year-old business GCSE students - should they continue studying business or crack on and get a job?

There is no right or wrong route to success. The academic route isn't for everybody, but that isn't to say all 16-year-olds should pack in their school work. I left school with no qualifications and went on to achieve great things in business, but courses for horses, as they say.

You've said that Philip Green would be too far out of his comfort zone to succeed at the challenges you set the candidates...

I am certain that if you took any of our country's most successful businessmen and put them in a factory, having had no sleep and told them to make sausages and then sell them on a market stall, they would fail.

The Apprentice is all about taking people out of their comfort zones and seeing how they perform. Even Philip Green has an Achilles heel, I'm sure!

Do you enjoy watching the finished TV show or does it wind you up?

Yes absolutely, it's the first chance I get to see how they actually performed on a task as opposed to relying on reports from Nick Hewer and Karren Brady. Some of the mistakes they make are laughable.

Have you ever privately changed your mind over firing a candidate and wished you'd kept them in for an extra week?

I have never regretted a decision, but yes, there are some candidates that perhaps should have stayed in the process for a longer period.

Have you ever spotted a kindred spirit in a candidate - someone who reminds you of yourself?

I'm cut from a different cloth and have yet to meet a candidate that is a replication of me, but there are certainly candidates in the past who have shown flashes of me when I was younger.

What are you most proud of about The Apprentice's success - especially since it hasn't been matched in the US Apprentice?

I'm proud of how far we've come. From being considered a somewhat niche programme on BBC Two to being recognised as one of BBC One's highest rating shows really is no mean feat.

We are now on our sixth series and looking forward to seventh so we've proven what a successful format The Apprentice can be when fronted by Lord Sugar as opposed to Donald Trump.

Lord Sugar is a respected businessman and entrepreneur and star of The Apprentice.

Fiona Wickham is editor of the BBC TV blog.

Expert baker and author Mary Berry spoke to the BBC TV blog about her role as one of the two series judges.

How did you come to work on the Great British Bake Off?

Quite simply - I was asked. I've written about cakes for years, and was thrilled to be asked to be given the opportunity to use my expertise to judge others.

Making a TV programme seems very different to how I imagine writing a cookery book must be - what are the differences that you enjoy?

The processes are very different, when writing a cookery book. With writing a cookery book, you have to research the recipes, then test them, and finally find a way to translate only the best recipes into language that everyone can understand.

By contrast, being a judge was about applying my knowledge, using everything I've learned to deconstruct the perfect bake, which is almost the other way round.

Some of the contestants would come in with recipes that I'd never tried myself, so I had to refer to the basics - texture, taste, appearance - to judge their attempts, but to explain what they could have done better.

Mel says she comes from a tradition of strong baking women - like an army - where did your love for baking come from?

My love of baking came from cooking at school - I wasn't very good at Latin and maths, so cooking was one of the first things that I did that I was any good at.

Baking has been important to my family for generations, both my mother and my grandmother baked. Families are a great resource for passing on baking expertise, and fostering a love of good cake.

Did you do home economics at school? What did your teacher think of your cooking?

It was my teacher, Miss Date, who encouraged me to cook. She gave me every possible encouragement, at a time that I wasn't much cop at school. The first thing that I ever took home was a treacle sponge - my father gave me great praise which I rarely got for any schoolwork, and I've loved to cook ever since.

Are you a messy cook?

No, because it's me that has to clear up later.

Do you ever use ready meals or other shortcuts when you're in private?

Not really - I'll usually muster up something from the fridge and the store cupboard. But I do sometimes take shortcuts, I use puff pastry, stock cubes and I use my freezer as a long term store cupboard.

What's your favourite thing to bake?

Traybakes - they're quick to bake, wonderful to eat and good for every occasion.

The contestants are baking competitively and Sue talks about baking being about "solitude, peace and calm". What feeling does baking give you?

Sue is perfectly right - it's a wonderfully solitary activity. The only company I usually have are my recipes and my dogs, but I love cooking with my grandchildren. It gives me great satisfaction, especially knowing that you're making something that other people can enjoy. It's never work, always a pleasure.

What were Mel and Sue like to work with?

They were just wonderful, and both are quite keen on baking which was a wonderful surprise. But most importantly, they approached every situation with good humour, which made everyone relax, and particularly made the whole experience much more fun for the contestants.

Mary Berry is one of two judges on The Great British Bake Off.

Fiona Wickham is the editor of the BBC TV blog.

How would you describe Samson, your character in The Deep?

He's a marine biologist and he's part of this team that is going to do research. And also their mission is to find out what happened with their identical twin vessel - a submarine that went down a year ago and they don't know what happened to it.

So he's the guy who is highly committed to this job. These trips in submarines are extremely expensive. He's part of a team which is highly praised. Everyone on this vessel is a one-of-a-kind person.

He's one of the experienced part of the crew, along with the characters Jimmy [Nesbitt] and Minnie [Driver] played. Samson is one of the organisers of the whole task and he was a very good friend of Jimmy's character's wife, who died in the previous crash.

There's a lot of emotion involved, especially for Jimmy's character because we find out his later his agenda is that he wants to go down because he believes his wife is still alive.

Everybody thinks it's impossible because it's been all these months since those guys disappeared but he has this strong, almost mad feeling in him that she's still alive and we'll see how we're going to prove him right or wrong.

So there's a lot going on, it's not just pure sci-fi, there's a beautiful love story and a family strength and honour story going on at the same time. That's what attracted me to it - it wasn't a flat science fiction action kind of thing, there were a lot of layers under that that were very human. Everyone is going down for a different reason.

Is it the first time you've worked with computer-generated imagery (CGI)?

Well we did use some on ER and on a couple of movies, tricks and stuff like that. But this was the first time that the creatures that you see in front of you, like the giant squid, whales you know, all kind of different animals were CGI. And mostly exterior shots of the big submarines.

The small yellow sub - the Lurch - was a real submarine that was built on the stage.

So when Samson goes off alone in the Lurch - you were physically sat inside it?

Yes. We had to build the small one because there are scenes that pull it up on chains and push it on a rail. It was really cool, they were driving it on a crane. And then we do actually submerge the submarine all the way down in the moon pool. So it was the real deal and it was able to go into the water.

And did you actually go into the water inside the Lurch?

Yes but not underwater, that would be dangerous because, of course, it wasn't built as a real pressurised thing.

So when you were inside the Lurch, you were having to use your imagination as to what you were seeing in the ocean around you, because it was all CGI?

Well, we were laughing about it. Jim O'Hanlon, the director, would sit in front of the monitor and he would describe what I would see and sometimes it would turn into a funny thing. People would start saying "Imagine you're seeing a big... " God knows what! I don't want to go into details! (laughing). Dear oh dear, it was fun.

So he was there all the time, talking you though it and helping you visualise what you had to be reacting to?

You know, it was actually quite a helpful tool. We would do all these scenes in one long, big shot, so we just rolled the camera. It was high definition and it looks as film. This new technology is quite awesome, but it was digital so it means you don't have to change the hard drive like you do with a film every couple of minutes.

So we'd be running seven, eight, God knows how many scenes in one big piece and he would just guide us through and you would have to imagine what was going on. It helped speed up the filming a bit.

That's interesting.

Yes it's interesting but it's a pain in the neck too (laughing)! We had to go through five different days in five minutes!

How did you like filming in Glasgow?

I loved it. I was there for about two and a half months and I love Scotland so much. I was so excited because Scotland was one of the places I always wanted to visit.

When this came by, my agent was like [downbeat voice] "Oh, you're not going to be at home, you'll have to be away filming in Scotland..." and I was like, "Scotland! Oh my God! I want to go!"

So every weekend when I had time, I would take my rental and go all over Scotland. I was up in the Isle Of Skye, I was at Eilean Donan castle - I think it was the one in the old Highlander, the first film. A really beautiful castle and when it's low tide, it becomes an island and you can walk to it. Really beautiful. I went to Edinburgh and saw a great show in the Lyceum Theatre. A really good friend of mine lives in Scarborough so I went to see him too.

Did you have your family with you?

No, they were in Zagreb in Croatia. Once you have Europeans living in America, they start thinking that all of Europe is a very small place (laughing). So my wife was in Zagreb, I was in Glasgow, and we met once in Paris and then we spent Christmas and New Year's in Zagreb. It was very nice.

How did you get along with the rest of the cast?

Great because Jimmy and I worked together on my first international job, Welcome To Sarajevo. It was really great to see him after all these years. We had a lot of chat, he's just a great guy.

It was a cool shoot. Everyone else too... Minnie, Sacha [Dhawan] and Svetlana... I mean Vera [Filatova]! My God, I keep calling her by her character's name (laughing)!

Everyone worked every day so whenever we got a day off we would go out together.

What were the highlights of filming for you?

The coolest part was playing with those toys, the submarines, that was the highlight. And the whole idea, I've never done this kind of genre before. So I was excited to come and be part of it. And I had an opportunity to see a bit of Scotland, which I never had before, so that was great.

Are you one of those actors who hates watching themselves on screen?

Well there is a bit of that. You know, if you're not happy with what you've done. A good thing can always turn into a bad thing... but you are excited to see what you've done. It's like 'Oh my God!' (laughing).

I hope I'm going to be happy about The Deep. It's just I'm actually quite curious. I want to see it as soon as possible. They were bringing me a copy here to Los Angeles but the trip was cancelled so I guess they're going to mail it to us or something!

How different is it filming TV dramas like this from films like Welcome To Sarajevo?

You're talking about budgets pretty much. If you do film, you're going to spend more time and it's going to be more detail-oriented. That's the main difference.

If you make three categories - actually, four categories in the States. You can make a soap opera one category, then network television, then cable television and then you've got features. Each step up you go, you see the improvement in the picture quality, production design quality and how much time you spend on certain things.

On soap opera they're going to do 15 to 30 pages of script maybe in one day of filming. In network television you're going to make maybe eight pages, in cable you're going to do four. And in film they'll do one to three maybe. So the major difference would be how much time and effort you put in.

So in features normally you have more time on your hands and the details are going to be done a little bit better.

But for me, my part of the job is the same. If you have enough time to prepare yourself, there is no difference for actors really.

As a child, did you always want to be an actor, or would you have liked to do something like Samson's job in a submarine?

I actually have been crazy about flying, always. I did 13 jumps out of a plane with the Blue Angels, which is a US Navy acrobatic group - from an F/A-18 Hornets airplane, which was probably the highlight of my life (laughing).

So those were my dreams, but I kind of fulfilled them in a cheating way. I didn't finish the school to become a pilot or whatever but I had a taste of it. So it's a little bit similar in that adventure kind of spirit but to go on a submarine - I've never done anything like that.

But I was born by the ocean and have been diving since I was a kid. The ocean was a huge part of my life.

Goran Visnjic plays Samson in The Deep

Fiona Wickham is editor of the BBC TV blog

Danielle talked to me about making the BBC Three documentary, My New Stepfamily, from her car as she picked up her stepsons.

What did you find most rewarding about doing the programme?

I think what majorly came out of it for me was that everybody has the same worries, once they find themselves in a stepfamily. Everyone has the same thoughts and feelings and goes through the same process it so I wasn't on my own. And it was quite nice to know that.

It takes time for a family to adjust, that was the main thing I learnt. It takes time for everyone to establish their roles within a family.

How long do you think it's taken you in your new family to adjust?

We still are now. Everybody gets on, everything works really well but you know, relationships are still being built and bonds are still being made. We're three years down the line but I'm still learning a lot and getting to know the boys as well.

You came from a stepfamily too didn't you?

I lived with my mum and my stepfather and my two half sisters and one half brother, growing up. I spent a lot of time with my father's mother so I saw my dad and his side of the family a lot, usually at weekends and school holidays. I was quite split really.

You said in the programme that you'd forgotten a lot of what that felt like.

Yes, I left home at 17 and I'm 31 now, so quite a long time ago. You do forget these things - things like packing a bag to go off to my grandmother's for the weekend and then packing another bag to go home and not wanting to go home because I went home to all the things like school and all the rest of it.

Those sort of things I spoke to Lauren about, the 12-year-old girl I spoke to in the film. She had the same anxieties of going from one house to the other and they're the kind of things you forget really. It was fine but there was that upheaval of moving house at the weekends and that's what it felt like sometimes - that I was moving from house to house.

And it was just the upheaval, it wasn't that you were unhappy in either home?

No, it was just packing the bag and sleeping in different beds. I have to say now in my later life, it hasn't done me any harm. I'm quite robust in that I could pack up and move somewhere and really not care as long as I've got Gary and Ella and the kids, I'll happily move anywhere. I think that comes from being a bit of a gypsy as a kid.

I liked the scene where you admitted to your best friend that you picked on your own daughter more than your stepsons, when they were equally at fault.

And my friend agreed! You do single out your own because it's just so easy to go for your own child, it's the easy option really. And that's the reason - I just don't feel it's my place to be telling off someone else's kids. But there's ways of doing it which is something I've learned. I did This Morning today with Denise [Robertson] and she hit the nail on the head. You say it half serious, half joking.

The boys have just got in the car now so they're going to be picking up on all these tips I'm giving you! (laughing) They'll be like, agh, she's only joking, she's not really telling us off!

Like I say in the film, it's like being a big sister really rather than a parental figure. Because they've got that, they don't need somebody else.

Did your daughter ever say to you, you're not being fair because you're telling me off and not the boys?

Yes, on occasion. But I think she's quite sensitive to the fact that she's mine and I can tell her off whereas you know, with the boys, I don't feel I can sometimes. I think she kind of knows, she picks up on that.

Do you think it took longer to feel comfortable with your stepsons because they are four teenage boys and you were working as a lingerie model?

I've got three teenage brothers so I kind of know what teenage boys are like. And at the end of the day I honestly don't think they really see me as a model. I think they just see me as their stepmum, the person who does their dinner and picks up their dirty socks. Like they don't see their dad as a TV presenter. You just don't do you, look at your dad that way?

And you never think of yourself in that light either so it's not something I ever thought about. They just take me on face value really. From the outside, yes, to the rest of the world it can look like that but when you're in your own situation, it's just not.

Do you feel the programme helped you mature into the role of a stepmum, with a bit more confidence?

Yes, I think what helped me was meeting other kids, and them being brutally honest with me on the way I should handle it. What was most useful to me was meeting the three Fox boys, because they're all teenage boys and they gave it to me straight whereas I couldn't speak to my own stepkids like that because they don't want to upset me or hurt my feelings particularly.

So speaking to them was like getting the word on the street really (laughing) and realising that maybe I am a bit out of touch with what's going on. I think I'm young because I'm 31 but God! Especially on the programme when I met Lisa from the magazine, that made me feel really old! She was using words I'd never heard of. So it was good to keep in tune with what's going on.

I felt this subject isn't talked about very much and when it is, it's in quite a negative light. We always hear stories about when it hasn't worked out. And like I've said, the Royal Family are a stepfamily now so we need to be talking about it.

Fiona Wickham is the editor of the BBC TV blog.

As part of Adult Season, BBC Three is asking you to share your stories on what it means to be an adult on the BBC Three blog. Reggie Yates, Kirsten O'Brien, and Stacey Dooley have contributed videos with their thoughts on adulthood.

Boy George spoke to me about how he felt about having a programme made about his personal life - and what he thought of the actors, the costumes and the make up.

What did you think of the drama?

I watched it on my own to start with. I don't know what I was expecting it to be and I thought I might horrified but it really made me laugh.

I'm not particularly precious about the past anyway so I was never going to lose any sleep over it. But it's beautifully filmed and Douglas Booth is amazing. Somehow he has the stink of me! He just gets it. There's something about him that reminds me of me when I was 17.

There's a few bits of artistic licence. For example, my dad was a Cockney.

Wasn't he Irish?

He was Irish, but he never spoke in an Irish accent so that was quite amusing to see that. But what's great about this is it's captured a really important part of history and that's great. I think it looks brilliant. Steve Strange looks like Caligula - he seems to come off the worst (laughing) but I was chuffed with it actually.

I liked the relationship between me and Marilyn, I thought that was really positive.

I agree, that was funny and a lot of the scriptwriting made me laugh.

My favourite line is where I'm with the guy in the phone box and he says I'm not really gay and I say, I'm not really a nun. I don't know if I ever did say that but I hope I did! It's quite bitchy.

I mean, here and there, there's a lot of bitching when nobody bitches that way all the time. There's a lot of one liners.

But generally it has a great heart and the styling of it! They've really got the clothing right and there are characters who are based on people who were around at that time and they've really got their looks completely perfect.

And Douglas' make up is just beyond... I laughed my head off! I was like "Oh my God!" - they've done it really well.

And he's quite beautiful too.

Oh yes, stunning! Absolutely stunning! I think not many people can pull off those kind of looks. They're quite individual - not many people can wear a yellow face and make it look pretty.

So it's a triumph. I was really impressed with his acting - and Freddie Fox too, I thought was really good at Marilyn. In fact I'm having a viewing of the film tonight and Marilyn's coming over with my friends to watch it. The real Marilyn.

I said to him, you won't like it! But you'll be pleased with our relationship in it. Because you know, he hates everything. (laughing)

But I'm really pleased with it, it made me laugh so much.

One of my favourite lines was from Marilyn, when Douglas (as you) says to him, why can I only pull straight men? And Marilyn says back, "Because you're really unattractive to gay men."

(Laughing) It's so true as well!

My relationship with Jon is quite reasonable in this film (laughing). Like when we split up in the end, I was thinking I don't remember it being all that reasonable in real life! It was more frenzied than that.

How did you hear about the film?

I found out about it from my friend who was asked to do the make up. So I called the BBC. I managed to get a few of my friends jobs on it so at least I knew the look would be right.

I was really worried they'd make it look too pantomime because the looks are so extreme and they were specific to people. That's what impressed me the most. Lots of the people who worked on the drama, in terms of the styling and make up and stuff, were people who were around at the time.

My friend Donald McInnes, he's the make up sort of designer and my friend Christine Bateman who does my make up, she worked on it as well. And a girl called Annie Symons who also was around at the time - so pretty good people working on it.

What was your first thought when you heard about them wanting to make a film about you?

I wanted to know what it was about, obviously and I did get the script and I kind of read bits of it and I thought 'Oh I can't be bothered.' It's basically true and there's obviously bits of artistic licence here and there.

Is that scene true, where your Dad is looking at your picture in a magazine and he's saying "So what have you all done? I don't get it. What are you called?" and he just can't get his head round your celebrity.

Yes that's true! Because I wasn't famous but I was getting a lot publicity for looking weird. My mum and dad... I would come home with these photo albums full of cuttings, or they would see me in the Daily Mirror, a fashion spread or I was on the cover of a German magazine. And they were like, well what do you do? You don't work, you're on the dole, you don't seem to get out of bed... how comes?!

Really, when I got the band together, they were so relieved, because it was like alright, now we know what he's going to do. But for three or four years they just did not understand my lifestyle at all.

Your dad is portrayed as, although very blokey in the film, he's really accepting and understanding of you.

He was. My dad's dead now, unfortunately but he was amazing. When I came out, I thought he was going to kill me. Absolutely I thought I was dead. Over! Like I better say my prayers now.

And he was absolutely brilliant about it. I've always had their support in that respect and it was amazing to me that my dad was so relaxed about it.

So when you visited the set, you Tweeted about how good Douglas Booth looked and how you were looking forward to seeing the film. Did you talk to Douglas at all?

No I didn't talk to him about what he was doing. When I went up there was the day they were doing the extreme look with the yellow face and sticky up hair. I'd seen pictures of Douglas and thought, he's really beautiful but he doesn't look like me. But when I saw him in the gear, I was like Oh my God, he really does look like me! It's so weird!

We were in this room, we were having breakfast there and he was getting mic'd up and it was really creepy looking across the room thinking, he really does look like me.

Obviously he was playing me when I was 17 and I was a lot more feminine when I was younger. I've morphed into a more rugby type figure since I've got older (laughing) but when I was that age, I was very girlie and androgynous. And he definitely has that, even as a normal person, he has this sort of rock star look about him.

I was watching and when I was there they shot it where he went to the toilet and he's standing up and I said "Oh, I wouldn't have stood up!" (laughing) But that was about it really. I didn't interfere with what they were doing because it was very nice up there and when I saw what they were doing I was really impressed by it.

What did you think of Mathew Horne as Jon Moss?

Mathew talked a bit like Jon, I know he met Jon before he did it, and they had tea together. His mouth - he's really got Jon's mouth, the way Jon talks. Although Jon was quite posh, he used to talk a bit like that and play act at being a bit of a lad. Mathew must have studied it because he really did get it. I think Mathew's great in it actually.

How do you think back on that period now?

Well you know, they're dealing with certain aspects of it and they have a limited amount of time so you don't get time to really see relationships developing as such. Life is far more complex.

The obvious thing would have been to do a film about Culture Club. That sort of period really shaped a lot of people. It was a really exciting time, we were all living kind of vicariously, squatting, you know, living hand to mouth, kind of hedonistic.

But it was also a great time of discovery and personal discovery, sexuality... so many things were going on you know. And a time of great freedom for us as teenagers so yeah, I think it was an interesting time to choose.

And generally it paints a true picture of what happened at that time.

Fiona Wickham is editor of the BBC TV blog

Worried About The Boy is part of BBC Two's Eighties Season

There's a very interesting letter published on the Guardian website, from BBC Three's Snog Marry Avoid's executive producer, Gill Wilson.

Gill's answering criticism from Radio 4 presenter Libby Purves who said the BBC should invest in intelligent programmes and stop "fretting how to get an extra million idiots watching Snog, Marry, Avoid? on phone screens the size of a dog biscuit".

And Gill also has a comeback for Bryony Gordon of The Telegraph, who thinks BBC Three should be axed instead of 6Music - partly because she doesn't think much of Snog Marry Avoid. (She doesn't know who Jenny Frost is and hasn't heard of Atomic Kitten.)

Gill wants to point out that Snog Marry Avoid isn't meant to be for women like Libby and Bryony:

"Which other factual programme addresses the hopes and aspirations of 17-year-old mothers in Bolton? In their language? These girls don't just wear eye-watering amounts of false tan. They are raising the next generation of Britons."

Have a read - it's interesting.

I'll also be asking scriptwriters and occasionally, actors and presenters to tell their stories on the blog.

Today though, the big goings on inside the BBC are to do with the proposals to, amongst other things, slim down the BBC website by closing and consolidating half its pages and close two digital radio stations - 6Music and the Asian Network.

The Director General, Mark Thompson gave a talk to all BBC staff this morning where he showed this film which explains some of what he wants to do. He's calling these strategic proposals Putting Quality First.

You may have read some of the speculation in The Times last week. The full report has now been made public by the BBC - have a look at the About The BBC website for all the ins and outs.

It's worth pointing out that these are only proposals at the moment. The BBC Trust has opened them up for the public to comment on before they decide. So if you want to have your say on the proposals, you can do so on the BBC Trust's online consultation page.

We'll be back to posting about telly programmes again tomorrow.

Fiona Wickham is editor of the BBC TV blog