Montserrat Lombard Talks Ashes To Ashes Finale

Montserrat Lombard had enjoyed a successful TV career with the likes of Love Soup and Hyperdrive under her belt but it’s the role of Shaz Granger in Ashes to Ashes that has really made her a household name.

But the cult drama came to an end last month so I caught up with Montserrat to talk about working on the show and what lies ahead for her.

- Ashes to Ashes season 3 is about to be released on DVD so or anyone who hasn’t seen it yet what can we expect from the final series?

The final season is a lot darker and it explains all the theory behind Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. But it also more of an ensemble piece you get to know all of the characters that little bit more, particularly Ray, Shaz and Chris, you definitely find out more about them. It just really lets you into the world so you know what’s going on really (laughs).

- Over the last two seasons we have seen Shaz become more and more accepted in CID, which is a very male dominated profession, so how do we see her develop in series 3?

She questions why she is in the police force and she really feels that her team pulls together to give her support and she realises what her job is about and that she is going to progress and people are going to give her the opportunity.

So that’s kind of what you see throughout the series her getting stronger and stronger watching Alex and seeing what Alex is doing whilst finding her feet and having more faith in herself.

- And she has some very interesting relationships with Gene, Alex, Chris and Ray so how do they progress, the relationship with Ray is a particularly good one?

(laughs) Well with Chris they start the series and they are not together anymore, I think it’s good that they are not together because they all really need to explore what they are doing in this world and I think that if they were together then it would change that.

So I think that it does make her more independent but as the series goes on Shaz does realise that Chris is her ideal man, despite his many faults, she is in love with him. And I think that it’s really lovely at the end how they have done it, it’s really subtle how they get together right at the end.

The relationship with the Gov she feels totally betrayed at the beginning of series 3 by him having run off, the Gov has always been a father figure to Shaz, so she feels like she doesn’t know if she can really trust him and whether he is ever going to keep his word and support her.

Then she crumbles in the second episode when he asks her to do something she feels that she can’t say no to him, because that is they type of relationship that they have, and she does what she asks.

And it’s up and down throughout the whole series (laughs) where she feels like e betrays her, she gives him trust again and he throws it back in her face. By the end, I think it’s because the Gov is such a complicated character, it’s really lovely as well.

With Alex it just gets stronger and stronger, they have a really lovely bond, and Shaz has always looked up to Alex and sees where she hopes she can go. And Alex has always been a constant for her giving her support.

And with Ray (laughs) it was so nice to have the two of them to experience the whole star thing before Chris and it was nice because it forced two like chalk and cheese who were forced to come together and bond, it was done really really well by the writer.

- The ending of the series is something that was kept very secret when did you find out what was going to happen and how did you react when you learnt Shaz’s fate?

We were kind of told about it at the beginning of season two we had a big sit down with the execs and the writers because we were just like ‘what is going on?’ (laughs) So they explained it to us then and I was just blown away it and I think that it’s just such a fantastic idea that I was really excited by.

And then when we got the scripts, which was actually quite late, we got them a month or so before we shot them, it was all very secretive, and I thought that it would divide people but it’s actually been a very positive response so I’m really glad that people liked the ending.

It’s one of those things because so much is packed into the hour episode you really do have to watch it more than once to get all of your answers.

- You have touched on my next question really how satisfied were you with the ending?

Absolutely it was great, it satisfied me completely (laughs), it all made sense to me. I had tried not to think of any theories while we were filming because I was just trying to play it straight and I didn’t want to start swaying me or changing my performance so I just played it as it was the real world and everyday life.

- Ashes to Ashes began back in 2008 so what was it about the script and the character that drew you to the project?

She just leapt of the page for me I just loved that she was new romantic, she was really creative and fashion conscious and came from this really working class background but was very politically minded.

She is just trying to get by in the world and wasn’t prepared to stand by and take sexist remarks and I thought that she was very brave starting out so young. I just thought that the scripts were fantastic and that’s why I was so thrilled when I got the part.

 - What sort of research did you do into the eighties and the police force of that time?

I did loads of research into eighties fashion and eighties music and took a look at things that she would have been into such as Bowie. But I also spoke to a few WPC, or they were WPC’s in the early eighties, and they were really really helpful they gave me some great information; I couldn’t have done it without that.

And I can’t believe just how sexist it was, and it’s not really that long ago, and it was thought that most of them were only in the police force to find a husband and get pregnant and that was the attitude that everyone had of them so you had to be very very tough in order to get by.

- How nerve-wracking was it going into the shoot knowing that your co-stars Philip Glennister, Dean Andrews and Marshall Lancaster already had a great working rapport?

It was a big like the first day of school where you were dreading it but was excited about it at the same time. But they were fantastic straight away and we all got on really well and very quickly, there was lots of darts playing and drinking and going out and socialising; and I think that that really helped everyone bond so quickly.

They were just fantastic, especially Marshall who I had met in my last audition before they offered me the part so I already felt like I had met someone.

- What were the relationships like on set and who was the felling as the show was coming to a close?

Everyone just gets on really well, they are just a great bunch of people, I saw Keeley last weekend and we are always on Facebook with the others and texting.

There were a mixture of feelings on set we were sad that it was coming to an end and that we weren’t going to be spending six months together every year like we had done for the past three years but it was also really exciting when we saw the last scripts and saw where it was going, I just really wanted to get going with it and get filming.

It was really sort of bitter sweet because while you felt like it was a good time to end it will be really sad when September comes round again and it’s like ‘oh I’m not going back to Ashes to Ashes.’ (laughs)

- Away from Ashes you have had a very successful career o TV, working in a lot of comedy, as well as theatre work so how important is it for you to mix and match your roles?

It’s really important as I try really hard no to do the same roles more than once,  I have been really lucky because I haven’t been boxed yet, I have been given a real opportunity to play so many different people, if that could carry on then that would be ideal. I have worked with such fantastic people I have just been so lucky.

- How does your theatre work compare with TV? Is there any particular medium that you prefer working in?

No because it’s so different, film is different to television again, it’s really nice to have a mixture of all three because you get to use different muscles so to speak.

Theatre you have to do the same thing fresh again in front of an audience but with TV and film you get to capture moments so you have to prepare yourself in a different way, But to be able to do a bit of everything is just really great.

- You have also stepped into movies with St Trinian’s 2 and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus how have you found working in film and with directors such as Terry Gilliam?

It was wonderful, I was only in Parnassus very briefly I shot for three or four days, I’m a huge fan of Terry Gilliam so I was very excited to work with him. He has such a fantastic energy and he is out there with you, when you are out in the freezing cold he is there as well, and he is so supportive.

With St Trinian’s we just had a riot (laughs) they were just a great bunch of girls and everyone at Ealing Studios was wonderful. I felt so over the moon to get both those parts because with film you have a little more time, television is so fast, with film you get time to sit back and chat to the director and try different things. 

-  We are all sad to see Ashes finish so what are the main memories that you take away with you?

With Ashes I think probably my costume (laughs), I have been given a couple of them, it was so much fun exploring that whole era with clothes and it was never less is more it was more definitely is more (laughs).

For me it was that and meeting everyone, the whole gang down to the writers and the execs, the sets as well it was just a wonderful piece of TV to be involved in because there was something so filmic about it, that of course and Marshall’s dancing through out the series (laughs).
 
- Finally what’s next for you?

I have got a couple of great projects that I’m actually not allowed to talk about but I’m also writing a feature with Olivia Poulet, who is a great actress, and Ian Martin, who wrote In The Thick of It, we did a short film called Stalking Ben Chadz which did really well so they have asked us to write a feature version, so that’s what I’m doing at the moment.

Ashes To Ashes season 3 is out on DVD 5th July

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw