Suranne Jones left 'in tears' when she met Jodie Whittaker on set of ITV drama Frauds

They are two of the most loved actresses on British TV - and they seem to adore each other as much off screen as the duo they play on screen. Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker are the stars of Frauds, a crime caper with a twist.

The six-parter is a heist series, featuring women rather than men. Bert and Sam are misfits who were thrown together as teens and became great con artists. But when they eventually got caught, Bert went to prison for 10 years and Sam never visited. Now they are picking up the pieces again.

On them being a match made in heaven, Suranne says: “I’m totally in love with Jodie Whitaker. I mean, I knew her from up the road, having coffees and whatever. But oh my god, I mean, she’s so funny. She’s hilariously funny. Kind, loyal. So generous to a fault. I could cry that I met her - properly - on this. We just clung together and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I guess we thought we’d get on and we thought it would be great.”

• Strictly fallout in full - two stars quit, one unhappy pro and controversies continue
• Dani Dyer's BBC Strictly Come Dancing replacement set to be Waterloo Road star

Suranne, 47, adds she knew Jodie could be the yin to her yang. "I guess when you get the rushes back, and as a producer I would see them coming in, I could see that we were bouncing off each other. You don’t always get that."

The show is co-created by Suranne and as well as starring as Bert she also was an executive producer, and Jodie was blown away by how her friend juggled things.

“She’s amazing,” Jodie says, looking back at the filming schedule, “I’d be coming into work at six. So I’d get up at ten to six and hope no one noticed. I’d get in to work and Suranne’s been up for an hour and a half watching rushes and giving notes. She’s an absolute powerhouse.”

And it was a delight to finally be working with her, having said yes to the role after getting some scripts sent to her whilst she was starring in a play. Jodie, 43, adds: “We’ve both got very close mutual friends and we don’t live too far from one another so we’ve known each other socially for years but have never crossed paths professionally. So it was really exciting to be sent something that is not just from her but that she’s gonna be in too.

"Everything I’ve ever seen of hers that she’s been a part of has felt very different. And this is absolutely within that world. Every moment of that heist is fuelled by what has happened in the past and that creates its own mystery.

"A lot of writing can create mystery without any payoff, but the great thing I think about Frauds is as much as you are gripped by this ride throughout six episodes, there is also so much depth and character work that means you are discovering things continually.”

As both the star and a co-creator Suranne insists she does not want viewers to take things too seriously when tuning into ITV for Frauds. There are tough times but also laughs with the duo along the way and plenty of hilarious moments including breaking into a bullring and dancing with a chicken.

Suranne adds: “I think on a basic level, if you have fun watching it, that’s great. It’s made on a double level as in it’s a fun show and it shouldn’t be taken too seriously because the characters don’t take themselves too seriously.

“Frauds is essentially a heist show that centres on toxic female friendship. It is an emotional heist as well as a physical heist featuring a bunch of outlaws who are all running from something. Together they’re trying to pull off stealing a painting from the Reina Sofia gallery.”

Turning to describe her own character, Suranne adds: “I think we’ve all had Berts or been Berts. At the time it feels amazing and it brings out a side to you that you wouldn’t necessarily know was there, but then when you’ve outgrown it, you need to move on for your own development. The trouble is if it’s still there and it keeps coming back into your life, the only way you can cut it off is by literally cutting it off and that’s like removing a limb.”

The storyline came about after Suranne was chatting to co-creator and writer Anne-Marie O’Connor about her love of the film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and then brainstorming around a female led story with a similar theme.

We see the two old friends meeting after Bert’s been in prison in southern Spain for 10 years and she’s been allowed out on compassionate discharge because she’s dying. Sam picks her up and there is a lot going on and clearly some history between the pair.

Anne-Marie explains: “Bert comes out and the idea is that she’s going to be looked after by Sam and die quietly - but instead what Bert really wants to do is get Sam on the hook for the one last job, so that she can shuffle off this mortal coil, as she says, and leave a mark on the world.”

The script was a winner for former Doctor Who lead Jodie. She says: “There are no female parts that I’ve read for a really long time that come anywhere near the dynamic of Bert and Sam.

“And particularly the fact that it crosses into a genre we don’t often see on TV. There’s the female-led genre, it’s a play on a heist and it’s not set in the UK. Everything felt really exciting. And so the first thing was being sent it and seeing if I responded to it. And I was like, this is brilliant, it’s exciting, it’s really funny, it’s really different. The characters are mental.

“Those two genius brains, Anne-Marie and Suranne, have come up with these people that you can love and hate… sometimes all in the same sentence. And their backstory is as rich and as relevant as the heist that you watch play out.

“What you’re seeing is a female friendship explored in a way I haven’t done before. Of course I’ve done things about relationships, but to have such a fiery uniting of people is brilliant to play.”

Yorkshire-born Jodie also loved filming - and living - in Tenerife for some of the filming locations which look incredible on screen. But it wasn’t all fun in the sun.

She adds: “It was amazing, but it rained a lot. Didn’t matter - it was stunning. My house was in a little town called La Laguna up in the North. It is literally gonna be in my top five places in life, I loved it so much. I’ve been to the south like as a kid on family holidays and never really realised how much we’re missing out by not heading up north.”

* Frauds starts Sunday 5th October, 9pm on ITV1

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads.