Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
Derry Girls’ Siobhan McSweeney has ditched comedy for drama, playing an American Trump fanatic in BBC thriller Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue.
The six-parter, written by Foyle’s War creator Anthony Horowitz, features nine characters who survive a plane crash in the Mexican jungle.
But they begin to die one after another in strange and violent ways and realise there is a murderer among them. Amid flashbacks, viewers see the survivors as they battle to stay alive against heat, a lack of supplies – and each other.
The Traitors Ireland host Siobhan, 45, said of her new role: “It’s the first time, apart from theatre, that I’ve played an American, so the accent was a challenge.
“Another would be the same with every show, where you’re going to spend an awful lot of time with these people and worry if you are all going to get on. It turned out to be one of the most joyful jobs I’ve been on.”
She plays a Texan motel owner, whose husband is also on the plane.
But Siobhan joked that if she was in a similar crash she would be dead within two days. She added: “I guess I’d die of boredom.”
Will & Grace star Eric McCormack, who plays a struck-off doctor, said: “I’d last 30 to 40 minutes… I take that back. There’s a bottle of vodka on the plane, so I’d last six to seven hours, until the vodka ran out.”
Siobhan, who also hosts C4’s Great Pottery Throwdown, said she jumped at the chance to film in Gran Canaria. She added: “I usually get to film in Northern Ireland. So it was like, ‘Let’s have a bit of fun’.”
Horowitz hopes fans enjoy the series. He said: “We live in a world in which it is hard to be sure of anything – we’ve 24- hour news, fake news, post-truth. But whodunnits lead to absolute truth. It’s revealed at the end.”
Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue will air on BBC1/iPlayer this autumn.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
