Former EastEnder Tamzin Outhwaite goes west for her first ITV1 drama – with Chiswick Business Park taking a starring role.

Tamzin, 33, plays the lead in Frances Tuesday, a two-part thriller to be screened early next month. Her role requires her to take on two very different identities (see picture right).

Frances is an accountant for a fictional firm based in W4, with interior and exterior scenes filmed at Chiswick Business Park. She’s set to marry her boss and partner Lucas (Douglas Henshall) but then discovers he’s a killer involved in people smuggling.

The ex-Red Cap actress, recently seen in When I’m 64, is transformed half-way through the story after Frances undergoes plastic surgery to start a new life with a different identity.

Producer Malcolm Craddock says the Business Park – itself home to several media companies – was a natural choice. “We loved it because it gave the feeling of substance and was exciting architecturally. We’ve given a fresh look to London.”

Adds director Jon Sen: “I went for a very contemporary urban London look. I think TV sometimes lacks a sense of place and it’s important that you ground a story in a specific world.”

Known to millions as Albert Square’s Mel Owen, Tamzin left Chiswick behind to co-star with Wesley Snipes in big screen action thriller Seven Seconds. But she is keen to correct reports that it’s her big Hollywood break. “The Hollywood bit’s not true, because we’ve been filming in Romania all summer.”

Frances Tuesday will be screened on ITV1, 9pm Monday and Tuesday October 4th & 5th.

September 23, 2004