Suranne’s star role in war drama

SURANNE JONES: new series

OLDHAM actress Suranne Jones will star as a nurse with a “dark secret” in a flagship new BBC drama about World War One.

The former Coronation Street and Scott and Bailey star is appearing in The Ark, which marks the centenary of the start of the war.

Set in a field hospital in France, it focuses on doctors, nurses and women volunteers tending to injured soldiers and civilians.

Jones joins other nurses who struggle to be accepted by the established medics in a conflict nothing could have prepared them for.

Suranne (35) said: “This is my first period drama and I am so excited about it. This is an important period in history, not just because of the war but because it was a transitional period for women.

“My character is a nurse with a very independent and modern outlook who is much more interested in patients than protocol.”

Writers and producers behind “The Ark” have worked on hit dramas including “Downton Abbey”, “Life On Mars” and “Silent Witness”.

Filming of the six-part series took place last summer and the series will be broadcast later this year.

The BBC is planning four years of programmes to mark World War One, from drama to debates about its causes and legacy.