Brenda Blethyn turned down a film offer when the scripts arrived from Kay Mellor for TV series Between The Sheets.

Now she admits that sex has spilled over from acting to backstage conversations. Steve Pratt reports.

THE favourite topic of conversation was sex when the cameras weren't rolling on Kay Mellor's new ITV1 series. Not surprising, perhaps, as Between The Sheets delves into the lives of couples who've turned to sex therapy to help solve the problems in their relationships.

Star Brenda Blethyn reckons that the nature of the subject made everyone a little bit raunchy. "If it was a story about veterinary surgeons, you'd be talking about animals, if it was a film about a knitting circle, you'd be talking about cable stitch. On Between The Sheets we found ourselves talking about sex all the time, which was quite funny, " she recalls.

The two-time Oscar-nominated actress stars with Alun Armstrong, Julie Graham and Gaynor Faye in the new series from the writer of Fat Friends, Band Of Gold and Playing The Field.

She plays Hazel Delany, wife of self-made property developer Peter (Armstrong). They seem to have the perfect marriage, but all is not well and they turn to a therapist for help. Meanwhile, their son Simon finds himself drawn to the hostess at one of his father's lap dancing bars.

Mellor says that sex is a subject that people either don't talk about at all, tell lies about, or talk incessantly about the mechanics of. "I wanted to look at intimacy and sex within relationships," she says about sitting in on sex therapy sessions and talking to therapists. The six-part series is "not always comfortable, but it's dark, sexy and very different", she reckons.

Between The Sheets marks a return to TV for Blethyn, the star of films such as Secrets And Lies and Little Voice. "I hadn't turned my back on television, the opportunities simply hadn't come my way," she says.

"Kay phoned me and asked if I would have a think about doing a new series called Between The Sheets. I'd worked with her before on the film Girl's Night and knew that it would be a classy piece of work as she always writes so well. She sent me the first few scripts and I was persuaded immediately. I even turned down a film to do it."

"Kay approaches topics that most people find difficult to talk about. In Girl's Night, the subject matter was cancer, while in Fat Friends she examined people's attitudes to their weight. Her writing persuades people to talk about difficult subjects.

"She creates very realistic characters, and that makes it so accessible. Most people are terribly inquisitive about sex, but extremely reluctant to talk about their own sexuality, hopefully Between The Sheets will tear down some of these barriers."

Her character, Hazel, has selflessly dedicated herself to raising her family. When she learns that her husband's mother has embarked on a sexually satisfying relationship with her elderly boyfriend, she decides she doesn't want to wait that long for her own sexual awakening and turns to professional help. The actress can see why she'd turn to sex therapy. "Well, if you can't drive you go to driving lessons and if you can't sing you go to a vocal coach. If there is something you can't do you go to an expert who can advise you," she says. "Hazel feels she is lacking emotional and sexual fulfilment in her relationship with her husband. Rather than just give up and throwing her hands in the air, she is prepared to consult a sex therapist to see if they could help her solve her problems.

"Most people would just put their head in the sand, but Hazel took her marriage vows seriously and wants to do all she can to save her relationship."

She admires Hazel for doing something that's so alien to her. "It's as though she is walking the plank. She's embracing a subject that is very difficult for her to discuss. As an outsider you want to say 'pull yourself together, what is the matter with you?', but actually it is a very brave and unselfish thing she has done."

"Hazel has reached a turning point in her life. Although she still cares for Peter, she suspects that he has been unfaithful to her throughout her marriage. There are plenty of women who think that, whether rightly or wrongly, but as far as Hazel is concerned, she is not prepared to let it continue."

The series reunited her with actor Alun Armstrong, with whom she first worked about 20 years ago. They appeared together at the National Theatre in London in The Mysteries, in which she played the Virgin Mary.

He even remembers the first time they met - he gave her and some other actors a lift home after a first night party. "Brenda travelled in the boot of my car," he recalls.

* Between The Sheets begins on ITV1 on Monday at 9pm.

Published: 13/11/2003