Interview with Anne-Marie Duff (Dr Susannah Newman)

9 July 2024

Tell us about Dr Susannah Newman?
In the first series of Suspect, the story is carried by Danny Frater (James Nesbitt). He’s investigating the suspicious death of his daughter Christina. Susannah is Christina’s mother and Danny’s ex-wife. In the second series, Susannah takes the reins, and we follow her as she continues to try and uncover what happened to her daughter. She is out of her depth as she is not in the police, but a psychotherapist who specialises in hypnotherapy. She is sensitive and intelligent. She’s also a woman who’s swollen with grief.

Where do we meet Susannah at the beginning of the series?
So in episode one, Susannah comes face-to-face with somebody who confesses, under hypnosis, to murder- and not just a single murder, but multiple murders. When we meet her at the beginning of this series, she’s troubled and standing on the shore of doubt and confusion about how her daughter really died. But there’s a huge catalyst that happens in episode one of this series which launches her onto the path of the investigation. It’s not a procedural investigation because she has nothing to do with the police force, but it leads her to a very difficult journey.

What was it like working with Carolina, the director?
We had a great time working together, we really did. I felt very lucky, she’s such a generous soul and the way she interacts with actors is just gorgeous. The crew were also phenomenal. She would take care of me as the two of us were on this path together and it was brilliant. We were very much in sync and that’s such a gift!

Tell us about the filming process?
Every week it felt like we were making a brand new project, because each location was so spectacularly different and we had a different cast. Each episode was like a different dream you were having; suddenly you’d wake up and be in an entirely different environment. I felt a bit like a hummingbird as I had to be in this constant state of high adrenaline. From the moment Susannah is makes her discovery in episode one, it felt like a starting gun had fired. I then had to then maintain that level of energy and commitment all the way through every episode. 

What was it like working with the other actors in this format?
One of the lovely things about this show is that it has a very specific conceit. Most of the episodes are two handers and that was set up in the first series and continued in the second series. It is a fantastic thing to see two actors really just playing with each other for a solid half an hour. For an actor, it’s blissful and rare on a tv or film set. The pedigree of actors that jumped on board was so exciting and really inspiring. I felt like i had to raise the bar each time and work really hard to match them. There were actors that I wanted to work with for years such as Eddie Marsan and Gina McKee. I know both of them a bit but we’d never worked together and I kept saying we have to do something, we have to do something! Same with Tamsin Greig, we had met but we had never worked together. So funnily enough, most of the people- we’d kind of been in each other’s lives but without doing it properly and professionally. Everyone brings a different quality into the room and a different mode of working with a different approach to the process, it keeps you open and curious.

What can audiences expect from the second series of Suspect?
It’s definitely a continuation from series one. It expects you to come to the table having known the previous circumstances, but it has a different flavour to series one and a different energy because it’s someone who is outside of the legal system trying to uncover a crime. It has a real female energy as it’s about a mother who is trying to reveal the truth. It’s thrilling but also profoundly moving and fascinating.