It’s massively relatable. I love the environmental storyline juxtaposed with the Verderer’s character – for me, it feels like a huge lesson because you could say he’s had a dose of his own medicine, because he empowered these people in authority and looks up to them, but they then ruin his environment. It's vital that we keep talking about these things. I loved it. I wouldn’t say it’s redeeming or atonement in any way, but it gives us a greater understanding of where our focus should be, where his focus should be. Whether it changes him or not I don't know because he needs an identity and I think so many people summon these horrific views as an identity. Pig Man has dedicated his life to protecting the forest and its animals – you’ve long been an outspoken animal advocate, did this element of his story resonate with you?

I really enjoyed making the town hall meeting scene. We were all together and it was the midpoint of the story, the moment where disaster strikes and we see how our band of principles deal with that: what’s important to them, what they deep down care about. For me, it was a gear change for my character. He goes off and spends time in the woods to protect his beloved tree. So, I really enjoyed performing that. It's really great writing from Bridget. But I think my favourite scene Tony does is the first scene, where he first meets Linda in the pub. He’s so gauche but she can handle him, and they realise that there’s great potential for a friendship there. Characters in the show are brought together in the fight to protect nature. Tell us about the environmental themes in The Change and why you wanted this to be a facet of the story? The first people she meets are the formidable Eel Sisters, who run the Eel Café and who are adored by the men of the town. They reluctantly agree to let Linda rent their caravan on the agreement that she cleans it up first. Ironically, Linda is already cleaning, but this time she’s doing it on her own terms, and for herself.

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The official plot synopsis of The Change reads: "Who is she? What is she? Is this it? Convinced she’s got early onset dementia after forgetting what a shoe is called, Linda's GP informs her it is, in fact, the menopause. You described your character Tony as being politically incorrect. How would you paint a picture of Tony for someone who hasn't yet seen the show? Harriett glanced down at them. “No, I suspect not,” she replied. “They aren’t native to this part of the world.” The character and his story touch on quite a few things that have become prominent issues in recent times, such as conspiracy theories, isolation, and online radicalisation. How did you research that role and get into the character?

In the hunt for her childhood time capsule, Linda discovers that the forest community is a far cry from the world she’s left behind, from the eccentric Eel Sisters, and a man who lives in the woods with the wild boar, to the outspoken Verderer, local disaffected teen Ryan and artist and DJ Joy. It was a struggle to get my head around the man, because I suppose my type is quite sunny, chirpy characters and here was a man who was just lost, essentially. His dialogue was quite ugly and difficult to read. If I'm honest, I didn't really like the man. My first impression was: this guy is everything I don't like about the world. But there’s a human being in there and that’s another lesson that perhaps we should learn, that through thorough investigation and a little understanding you learn these people are generally lonely and lost and angry. Bridget, you star as Linda, but you also wrote and produced the series. What was your original vision for The Change?I do think he’s a positive male role model. The crisis he experienced brought him to make this change, as is often the gift of crisis. So, for him it’s an initiation of sorts. The other guys to different extents perhaps still identify more with our white material culture’s distorted idea of masculinity, of what it means to be successful, to fit in and make it in what is in many ways a life destructive culture. So yes, I think Pig Man has rejected that whole conceit that we are sold of what it is to be a man.

And there was a bit of a last-minute change with Susan Lynch stepping into play your sister, Agnes.

It’s inherent in Bridget’s journey and the journey that Linda, her character, has taken. If we lose our connection with the land we were born from and on, well the consequences of that are pretty huge to say the least, and we are of course now living in the midst of them – we have lost touch with the natural balance of things, and our part in that balance. At the heart of the story, it’s asking us to return, to remember, to reconnect with beings other than human. Every other plant and animal works within the natural balance of things, whereas we’ve been moving further and further away from that innate knowledge and wisdom. Thankfully, there are still indigenous cultures with that knowledge that haven’t been wiped out. Unless we realise that and take heed of that wisdom, then I think we know that we are in for a very rough ride, I mean it already feels heart-breaking what we are doing to our ecosystems, to each other, and to our beloved animals. We’re at a tipping point right now and a lot rests on it. Also personally, I don’t think we can experience a true joy of being, without reclaiming our innate human identity as not separate from all of nature.