When she was cast in BBC drama Sherlock, Yasmine Akram really didn’t know what she was getting into.

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“I really wasn’t prepared for the fan reaction at all – I knew it was a big show, and I knew a couple of the lads in it were doing quite well!” the Irish actress tells RadioTimes.com. “But I didn’t know that it was SUCH a big deal.”

But as a bridesmaid at John Watson and Mary Morstan’s wedding and later as Sherlock’s almost-fiance, Akram made a big splash amongst the Sherlock fandom.

“It was really really lovely but very overwhelming,” she says.” And to have people who say that they’re your fans, and show up to things.”

She adds: “I’m like, ‘It’s just me – this morning I was in my garden doing some weeding, it’s not a big deal.’ So yeah, it feels like there was a huge jump from going from someone who was completely unknown to then having attention from something where you feel like this tiny cog in a massive machine.”

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Not that she’s rested on her laurels; since the episode aired, she’s co-written and co-starred in a second series of her radio show Irish Micks and Legends, and also popped up in The Midnight Beast, Stella and BBC4 embassy comedy Asylum (the response to which she says was disappointing).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfi7qjlkfTU

Now, she stars in Undercover, Dave’s first scripted comedy which sees her play Lara, the “tough” daughter of an Armenian mobster who has her suspicions about the disguised cop in their midst (Daniel Rigby). “I hope people give it a chance, and give it a watch,” she says. “I’m really proud of it.”

That’s not to say, of course, that she wouldn’t be up for a return to her big break…

“I’d totally return to Sherlock!” Akram says. “Sometimes I just think I’ll show up, and they’ll have to deal with it. I’ll find out where they are. It’s so, so great to work on that show. It’s a bit like Undercover – everyone’s always laughing, and having a good time.”

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Undercover begins on Dave tonight (Tuesday 16th June) at 9.00pm

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