During Primeval’s second season, Helen Cutter has been a shadowy figure manipulating people and events from behind the scenes, in particular her former lover, Nick Cutter’s trusted assistant Stephen Hart. In the final episode, some of her agenda was revealed – but, as Juliet Aubrey explains, there’s far more to Helen than we’ve seen yet…

Was Helen simply using Stephen or do you think her promise at the end of the series shows she still has feelings for him?

They messed around when she was a lecturer and he was a student, and they still obviously have a desire for each other, but she’s out of that game really. Stephen is a means for her to get to Cutter; and to get a hot shower! Stephen enables her to get access to Nick as he provides her with a cover. She isn’t able to just turn up at Nick’s as he’d most likely have her arrested, but by being with Stephen she can learn what’s going on and manipulate the situations through him to her advantage.

All she wants is to get to Cutter. In her eyes, together they could really change things – they could change the present and the future. She doesn’t believe she is evil as she is removed from everyday life as we know it.

Do you think Helen was genuinely pleased by Cutter’s comments when he was locked in the cell with Jenny – even if he claimed they were simply a ruse later?

I think she loves him, but she is quite callous, and ultimately it’s all about her. If she thinks even for one moment that he is going to get in the way of her plans, then she will drop him like a hot potato. She likes to think that love and romance are petty distractions and are for the weak-minded.

However I like to think she loves him, deep down somewhere, even though she might deny it to herself. They are great together: she’s a top scientist in her field, and he is in his. Though they have different approaches, she believes that together they could really make things happen. Without wishing to sound trite, they have great chemistry.

Her plans have obviously gone beyond simply seeing what comes through the anomalies…

She’s intrigued by what happened to Claudia, and by the possibility of what that means. For Nick, the Claudia situation is horrendous and he wants to fix it. But for Helen it represents something entirely different. For her the fact that we changed things so that people’s identities were no longer the same opens up a whole world of new possibilities.

While the first change was an accident, Helen realises she can affect the future, can change it in some way. She is far more into the idea of experimenting, whereas Cutter wants very much to leave things as he feels that nature intended. Nick is horrified by the realisation of what he may have done, but Helen feels as though he is being incredibly short sighted.

She accuses him of being narrow minded and stuck in the world of the present. Helen is very interested in the future and in working out what is going to happen; she views humanity as insignificant, really. She thinks big and knows things that no one else knows! She has got hidden information and ultimate power! Not to be messed with – or so she thinks…

Was it your idea to change her look for this season?

It’s great gear, isn’t it! We wanted to make her more practical, but also didn’t want to make her look too frumpy. She’s all straps, packs and knives with some strategically placed tears in her clothing! I love it.

As for the hair, in-between filming the first and second series, I was playing a French-Iranian assassin in a film, so I had it cut for that. The producers really liked it and said they wanted me to keep it for Helen. I was really happy to keep it too: I like having it short, and I think it suits the part too. It’s more practical. I can imagine her sitting by some prehistoric lagoon, cutting her hair with that big old knife.

Did you enjoy the action sequences?

She is always running around which I love. It was great when we were filming in Fuerteventura, as one of the sequences is of Helen trekking across this incredible landscape [at the start of episode two]. I really enjoyed shooting that. Because of the nature of the wide panoramic shots, the director had me walking for miles to get to the start point before coming back towards camera.

We were there for about 10 days and I had come straight from making a film in Wales where it was pouring with rain nearly every day. I finished that on the Saturday night in Cardiff and flew out on Sunday night to this blazing heat. It was good to get warm again.

When we were there, the weather was the hottest it had been in years. There were winds called the Sirocco coming in, which is a Mediterranean wind that comes in from the Sahara. Normally there is a cool breeze blowing but the Sirocco is hot; it’s like being under a hairdryer! So there was me wandering around with my make up sliding off my face in my leather costume. I remember thinking, “Okay, so this seemed like a good idea back in the dressing room in cold wet rainy Cardiff!” I still loved it though.

What’s the appeal of playing Helen?

She’s such a great release! It’s such fun getting to play someone who really genuinely doesn’t care about anyone other than herself. I was known for so long as someone who was playing rather more saintly characters so it’s wonderful to play someone who is downright bad! She’s really bad – and she’s going to get worse.

Since Primeval went out, I am definitely recognised by children in a way that I haven’t been before. I’ve never been mobbed by children before. I think they like Helen because she is a woman and you don’t get many bad girl characters in this kind of television. It’s a really innocent and genuine interest that they take. There is no agenda at all and they are just trying to get to grips with the story.

Primeval series 2 is released on DVD on 17 March 2008.