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Caroline Craig turns to navigating the underbelly of politics
At last, Sir Humphrey Appleby may have met his match. In the new stage version of Yes, Prime Minister, Westminster's wiliest bureaucrat comes up against a "special adviser" to Prime Minister Jim Hacker who challenges his ingenious evasions and bland obstructionism.
Her name is Claire Sutton, and even though he refers to her dismissively as "Dear Lady", Sir Humphrey cannot deny her lethal political skills.
"Claire is quite tough, terrifying really," says actor Caroline Craig, who plays Sutton. "She can hold her own when it comes to political badinage because she sees through the wall of words and all the games that are going on.
"But she has another weapon that Sir Humphrey (Philip Quast) doesn't have in order to get the PM (Mark Owen-Taylor) on side. Which is charm."
Blonde and blue-eyed, Craig radiates plenty of charm. But like Sutton, she possesses a core of steel. Which may explain why TV directors have been quick to cast her as hard-hitting cops - first, Tess Gallagher in Blue Heelers, then Jacqui James in the first Underbelly.
© Herald and Weekly Times
