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Poppy Lee Friar was the first cast member Sci-Fi Bulletin spoke to before CBBC’s Eve began transmission, so it’s appropriate that she’s the last in our reports from the set visit to series 3. She chatted with Paul Simpson just after filming the very last scene of the season – which throws open a whole new set of possibilities for the show…

Welcome back to the 21st century…

Yes I’ve just been in 2136!

What was your reaction when you saw that ending?

Oh my gosh, it was totally exciting – I just thought, “Doctor Who, time travel, this is amazing!” It takes it into another direction again and all I’m thinking is series 4, the possibilities that we can have with that.

Last year we had the teleport, and the stuff with Jane, and that was great. Time travel would be great.

Did you have a chance to have a chat with [show co-creator] Emma [Reeves] about where you’d like to see Eve go during series 3?

I did, yes, and the one thing that I wanted actually happened – going into the future, looking at the possibility of Eve staying the same with everyone else around her actually aging and changing and how that makes her feel. We did that in the predictive software episode where she sees Will and Lily get married, have a baby, and then old Will which was really emotional and sad – going down the film AI line. I mentioned that to Emma and I was quite thrilled that we got that in. It was quite sad and poignant that someone could see everyone they love pass, so I was pleased that that happened.

That was the main thing that we talked about but I think Emma and the rest of the writing team improved the series even more again on this series – for example, just for my character alone, I’ve got the aspect of having KT and fighting for her and acting like a big sister. Having someone else that you’re responsible for, that was a lovely new element to it. And later on in the series, we have Petersen, and we explore the idea of her having a father – he’s not a very good person.

There’s been so much that it’s difficult to remember everything that’s happened, particularly when you have a schedule like this and do things out of order.

It becomes instances, rather than stories…

Precisely.

The show has never shied away from emotional content and that’s been even more to the fore this year…

Yes. If you just think about robots, they’re not necessarily emotive but the route we’ve taken with Eve is she’s fully sentient, she has full emotional capacity and that has been a very important thing for me. It’s allowed me to shape the character and evolve the character over the series, and like I said, with the KT storyline, finding her father, even though I perform with a kind of robotic demeanour and poise and control, I’ve still been able to show emotion and get upset.

Today we had some emotional scenes – at the end of the series, Eve decides to leave to protect the others, and even though I read it as emotional, I didn’t read it as emotional as it turned out to be because obviously having done three years of the series, that affects you on a personal level as well. So I was filming the scene today and thinking, “We’re saying goodbye, we’re leaving series 3 and we don’t know if there will be a series 4.” As a person, you get attached to the people you’re working with and I like to really immerse myself in a character and a situation so I found it quite upsetting – but that’s part of the character. She can cry, she has cleaning fluid for tears. It’s wonderful – there’s no restrictions really.

Episode 3 also had the predictive software, and there were scenarios that might not really happen as Eve was trying out different situations and how she could correct the circumstances. I got to play different Eves – Eve how she might be as a person… which she obviously is but she’s made of metal so that’s obviously restricting in some way. I got to be a bit crazy with it and go mad with the lines and her physicality most importantly as well. I tend to keep her quite poised and calm, so ep 3 was one of my favourites to film. I hope it’s funny!

Back when we first spoke, you talked about how much you’d enjoyed the physical parts of the early episodes when she threw herself into everything…

Yes – I love the comedy side of it anyway.

Has that kept up – because as she’s been learning, she’s also been restricting herself through the choices that she’s already made…

…and as she learns more and she’s more self-aware, there’s the potential for the comedy to dissolve a little bit. Going back to series 1, one of my favourite episodes was episode 2 when she copies the girls and does the dance routine. That was one of my favourite moments – so yes, it could be more restricting, but then you take into account the possibilities that Emma has chosen to go with, like making use of crazy sci-fi stuff, like the predictive software, which is the beauty of the genre. Episode 3 was really a self-contained Eve crazy comedy, but obviously the series is quite linear. We’ve gone with great writing and sci-fi serious, but there’s light and shade as well, and it’s a family show so we’ve got the family unit and their story.

And anything with Abe in it is going to be light at times..

Elijah is fantastic and his character brings that light at times when I can’t. Comedy is a massive part of entertainment, and just as a human being, if you need uplifting, watching something funny does that. Personally I’m a massive British comedy fan and even just watching a little clip of your favourite show or a character that you like is brilliant.

It releases endorphins – there’s a chemical reaction…

It’s a potent cure for anything!

You’ve had three years of playing Eve; what’s been the element that’s surprised you most – either in terms of the character, or for you as Poppy?

Surprised me most? That’s a really tough question. I think it’s the variety of performance and what I’ve been able to do through the writing. It’s not just been one-dimensional. I haven’t just been playing a robot, even if she is fully sentient and emotional.

This season I’ve been “Maeve” in a few episodes, where I’ve been possessed by Mary so basically doing an impression of how Jane Asher does Mary. I absolutely adored that. And there’s a phone call where I’m impersonating Maddy so I got to do that. There’s flashback scenes in this series where I play ’60s Mary and her whole backstory comes in – she had a twin sister, Helen, who I also play, which obviously explains Mary’s behaviour and led her to what she does.

On a personal level, playing the part, this series, has been so fulfilling acting-wise. It’s been really rewarding for me, and I’ve never played a character like this. I’m quite lucky – I get to play kooky characters and I’m never really typecast. Even though I get cast in period dramas I’ve been lucky to play different characters. And because we’ve had three series, I’ve never done that much for one show and one character, so the journey of it has surprised me as well, and the bond that we’ve all formed.

The main thing is Emma and the team have given me the opportunity to have an acting workshop, really – trying to work things out, come up with stuff.

And lots of this stuff you had no idea when you started would be coming.

I didn’t know what to expect really, you just get the character breakdown. There was something in me that knew I was right for the part and I had ideas.

Have those come out?

The ideas that I had? Oh absolutely. Sometimes what you read on the page you embellish anyway. That’s also what’s surprised me: I’ve challenged myself in thinking of ways that I can embellish the writing and how I can change something – you read something and think “I could play it as I’m reading it, or I can flip it with my performance and change the tone.”

So what’s next?

I’m in the mix for a couple of things – a film and a series. Can’t say too much. It’s an actor’s life – voicings and cast work. It would be lovely if In the Club went again – that was well received. Kay Mellor is wonderful.

Just before this I worked on a little film called My Cousin Rachel; it’s a remake of the original, based on the book by Daphne du Maurier, directed by Roger Michell, with Rachel Weisz as the lead, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger. I had a great time with it, it was a great light-hearted part. We shot in Bamber Gascoigne’s mansion – the grounds were stunning – and at Lewes in Sussex. Lovely job, period drama, so worlds away from this – really tight corset, massive dress, ringlets. That’s out next year and I’m really looking forward to that.

Looking back over the three seasons, is there one memory you’ll look back on in 20 years ago, and think, “yes, that was fun”…

All of it, and the people most importantly –I do believe that although Eve is quite a self-contained part, it really is about the directors, the crew, the writing, the cast. All of them will remain in my heart forever. I mean that genuinely – I’m sort of the person that gets deeply affected by jobs like this where you really do love the people you’re working with. That’s the main thing which will stick with me forever.

One particular moment? The series has got better and better but one of my favourite moments in the whole series was the Eve creation scene, Eve’s genesis, where she comes to life and I’m on that amazing sci-fi podium set, in my silver leotard. Then seeing that on screen having shot that and seeing the special effects, and hearing the music. That plays such a massive part – it really does and I compliment the composer [Philip Curran] all the time because it can bring something more.

It can make or break a show.

It really can; he does an amazing job.

Filming-wise and scene-wise that will really stick – the big bang moment for Eve.