Father Brown star teases ballroom dancing episode with Angela Rippon

The episode in question, titled The Lord of the Dance, sees Rippon play the Dancing Duchess, the host of a television dancing contest that Ruby-May Martinwood's character Brenda takes part in.

Martinwood spoke with RadioTimes.com and other press about the episode, calling it "amazing" and "so much fun".

She explained: "I'm a dancer myself, so I love getting the chance to do something a little bit physical. John McCrea was absolutely lovely as a dance partner. We had quite a few experienced dancers in again, so that really brought the energy, and it was good quality stuff.

"Kirsty, our choreographer, came up with some great ideas. Brenda has a little bit of a vulnerable side in there as well, which is nice. And the costumes were beautiful, some of the things they came up with were absolutely stunning.

"Brenda's usually quite tomboyish, but she sort of finds her feet a little bit and dresses up for the competition, and she does quite well."

On working alongside Rippon, Martinwood said it was "wicked", before adding: "We always have really great guests in, particularly this year as well. But yeah, she’s a great character."

When asked whether Brenda is excited about appearing on TV in the episode, Martinwood said: "I think she finds the idea of being on TV quite nerve-wracking. I think she likes being good at stuff, but not necessarily being watched by loads of people. She likes being an attention seeker in some aspects, but I don't think it's when she's actually good at something.

"I think she finds it quite scary. And I think that's the whole reason why she's probably hesitant in the first place. The dance aspect she loves, in private, with the radio on, with Father Brown drinking his cup of tea in the background, but not in front of hundreds of thousands of people. That terrified her."

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Martinwood joined the cosy crime drama back in 2022, when she appeared in a one-off episode. She later re-appeared in 2023, joining the central cast at a time when a number of long-running cast members left and newcomers joined.

Speaking with RadioTimes.com and other press on set for season 12, Martinwood's co-star John Burton admitted that he had been "really worried" about the extent of the cast changes that year, but that Mark Williams had convinced him of the positives of the move.

Burton added: "He was absolutely right, because they are fabulous."

Father Brown returns on Friday 10th January at 2pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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