Character: Amanda Reece
Actor: Phoebe Nicholls
Episode: The Funk Hole

Phoebe Nicholls had to resort to some rather drastic measures to encourage her canine co-star to perform in Foyle's War. "I had to work with a dog, who is supposed to run into me in the scene. But it was one of the hottest days of the year and I was in full period dress and we had to keep redoing it because the dog wouldn't do the right thing. In the end, I had to clutch some rather smelly cheese in 100 degree heat to make him come to me!"

Phoebe plays Amanda Reece, a sharp-tongued journalist who is spending the war at Brookfield Court - a 'funk hole' hideaway for the rich.

"Amanda is great, she is completely off the wall. She is eccentric and slightly mad and I really enjoyed playing her, even though she is very selfish by hiding away during the war. I worked closely with the make-up designer to give her a slightly eccentric look and the costume designer gave me some wonderful clothes.

"I have done masses of costume drama but it was great to spend the summer in Chilworth Manor, an incredible house near Guildford," adds Phoebe.

In real life, Phoebe is married to the director Charles Sturridge, whom she met while he was directing her in Brideshead Revisited.

"I have three children now, which keeps me busy, and, although I've always been careful about work, I do what takes my fancy. I've had a very busy year - I'm playing an MI6 agent in Prime Suspect and I've also got a part in Hawking, the BBC film about Stephen Hawking."

Phoebe's other credits include Midsomer Murders, Gulliver's Travels, Second Sight, Shackleton and Drowning in the Shallow End on television, and the films Maurice, Heart of Darkness and Fairy Tale - A True Story.

October 2003; Publicity Release