Reichenbach Falls
Nina Sosanya plays Detective Sergeant Sinead Burns
Stepping into the shoes of your colleague's long-time partner who has just been brutally murdered is no easy task. And when DS Sinead Burns, played by actress Nina Sosanya, first arrives on the scene she's typically met with a wall of hostility from DI Buchan (Alec Newman).
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"Compared to Buchan, she's quite sunny and open," smiles Nina. "Actually, anyone would be sunny and open compared to Buchan – he's not exactly a laugh-a-minute, is he?
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"The thing with Sinead is that she's non-judgemental because she knows what happened with his partner. She's treading on eggshells a lot of the time but, despite that, she immediately likes Buchan even though reports of him have not been favourable."
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Initially, the miserable cop is reluctant to form any sort of relationship with Sinead, not least because he doesn't want the death of another detective on his hands. However, she perseveres with him and soon breaks down his barriers. In fact, according to Nina, Sinead is the very embodiment of the perfect sidekick.
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"She can see he has good reasons for being the way he is, and I think she actually finds his dryness, his cynicism and his world-weariness slightly amusing," says Nina. "She's a great sidekick for him and, even though she's quite ambitious, she's happy to play that role because she's very eager to learn and she wants to learn from Buchan."
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But Nina, who has starred in Love Actually and Casanova, admits the pair are unlikely partners which is clearly illustrated by their different outlooks on their surroundings.
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She continues: "Buchan has a very jaded view of Edinburgh. Meanwhile, she's just moved there so it's all new and wonderful for her and she's intrigued by the mysteries and the history of the city.
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"I kind of know how she feels because I've spent quite a lot of time in Edinburgh on theatre tours and at the festival, and there's something about that city which makes it very grand and very real all at the same time."
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However, one aspect of Reichenbach Falls' vision of Edinburgh which Nina wasn't quite so keen on was filming in the underground tunnels where Buchan and Burns investigate the remains of a 100-year-old body.
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"Oh, those tunnels were so manky – really dark and damp," she shudders.
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"While we were waiting for one shot, I remember Alec was convinced he could hear footsteps behind us – which he could, because it was the crew going up and down the stairs – but it's quite easy to get suddenly freaked out down there.
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"You quickly realise you wouldn't have a clue how to find your way out if there was an emergency."
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Not surprisingly, for an actress with such a varied and critically acclaimed career, it was the surprising twists and turns of James Mavor's script that drew Nina to the role.
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"To start off with you think you're watching something nicely written with stock characters, and then it all starts to get quite bizarre, which is a nice surprise," says Nina.
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"I love watching those kinds of programmes – it's great to be taken by surprise, and it's nice to be wrong about something, as well. So often you have a story, and you think: 'Well, I know what's going to happen; I've guessed this already'.
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"But if something like Reichenbach Falls has just the right amount of clues that starts you thinking without giving away too much, then it's a very active and exciting experience for the viewer."
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And, for Nina, the unpredictability of the drama is one of its key draws: "This script is one of those many layered pieces where if you over think them you can come full circle, and you're kind of back where you started. But I think that's much more interesting than having something just wash over you.
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"Personally, I love films like Fight Club and I didn't see that twist coming at all. And it spoils it if you know the twists beforehand – it's much better to be strung along and then to be able to enjoy the ride."
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Nina is currently focusing on her drama career but still has one unfulfilled ambition she'd like to add to her CV. "I really want to be in something that's full on science fiction," she says.
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"I'm a huge science fiction fan, so anything with CGI or some kind of big weapon in it would be great. I think I'd feel a bit incomplete in my career if I'd never got the chance to slay a few aliens!"
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