“Almost in every episode you’ll get an outrageous ball or polo or something where everyone’s together, but every character now gets an amazing arch to include the good, the bad and the ugly, which is unheard of really, so it’s delicious,” Smurfit said.
Her character Maud is a former actress who’s husband is a journalist-turned-chat show-host hired by Baddingham.
They and their three children, Taggie, Patrick and Caitlin, then move from London to the Cotswolds, much to Maud’s bemusement.
She is depicted as being flirtatious with other men, and described as being “made of two parts whiskey and one part devilment”.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra programme, Smurfit said: “I think like every decent woman, you should be some part devilment and some part whiskey and it just depends on what level we’re going to be at.”
When asked if she sees any elements of Maud in herself she said: “I hope I’m a better mother than her, my kids say I am, and I definitely have to be a better wife than Maud, I mean she’s desperate.
“But I think her kind of bohemian spirit – I really enjoy getting into that and also Maud’s vulnerability to excuse her appalling behaviour,” Smurfit said.