Watch video trailer: Rotherham's Life on Mars star joins new BBC mystery
ROTHERHAM actress Liz White has landed a role in new BBC daytime crime drama The Northumbria Mysteries alongside North East television favourite Robson Green.
The eight-part series is to be filmed on location across Northumberland and is set against the county’s sweeping coastline and rural communities.
The drama has been commissioned for BBC One and BBC iPlayer and is expected to air next year.
While details of White’s character have yet to be officially revealed, the series centres on an unlikely crime-solving partnership between Green’s character Joe Ruby – described as a flawed “jack-of-all-trades” – and the intellectual, Oxford-educated Detective Inspector Rose O’Connell.
Producers say the pair will investigate a string of mysteries across the North East.
The new role adds to a busy spell for the actress, who was born in Herringthorpe in 1979 and remains one of Rotherham’s most recognisable television stars.
White recently returned to the Sheffield stage in the acclaimed production Living, earning praise for her performance in the emotionally-charged drama.
She has also appeared on screen portraying an England football team official, continuing a career that has ranged comfortably between hard-hitting drama, period television and theatre.
White is perhaps best known for playing Annie Cartwright opposite John Simm in the cult BBC series Life on Mars, a role that made her one of the most recognisable actresses on British television during the mid-2000s.
Audiences also know her from appearances in Call the Midwife, where she played Rhoda Mullucks, as well as roles in acclaimed dramas including Ackley Bridge, Our Zoo and Unforgotten.
The BBC has described The Northumbria Mysteries as part of a major new investment in North East television production.
For White, (46) the role represents another high-profile addition to a career that has steadily combined mainstream success with critically respected performances on stage and screen.
Despite being one of Britain’s best-known television actresses of the past two decades, she has remained notably private and rarely gives celebrity-style interviews or shares details of her personal life, making her something of an enigma compared to many modern TV stars.