Angela Griffin admits she’s relieved to return to the new series of Lewis

ANGELA GRIFFIN is just glad to be back sleuthing in the new series of Lewis because she thought she’d be dead.

Or at least she thought her character, DS Lizzie Maddox, would be.

Angela was brought in last year as the new sidekick for Lewis and Hathaway (played by Kevin Whateley and Laurence Fox).

But Lizzie was the victim of what seemed like a fatal hammer attack in the final investigation of the last series.

“It really was just a case of going in for one series,” Angela told The Sunday Post.

“Right from when I went for the first meeting it was made clear they didn’t know if she was going to survive.

“So it was very much going to be for a single series. I thought it’d all be very dramatic and I would die.”

But the bosses quickly spotted the relationship between Angela and the two male coppers and decided she had to stay.

“It’s very much about Lewis and Hathaway and when you bring a third wheel into it then it can either work or not,” she explains.

“So they didn’t want to promise something that wouldn’t necessarily happen.

“I think once I came in and the writers got their head round it, they just felt the dynamic worked.

“Lizzie does all the ‘grunt work’ and they can have their chats about how the case is going.”Read more TV news – click hereWhile Angela felt very much the new girl last year, the former Corrie and Cutting It star was much more like an old hand this time.

And after being made to feel welcome, she was now the one making others feel at home.

“I loved that,” says Angela, 39. “I’ve done plenty of things like Holby where I’m used to new people joining for each episode.

“I got to catch up with some people I’d worked with before and welcome some people I’d dreamed of working with such as Steve Pemberton.”

Angela and actor husband Jason Milligan have two daughters, Tallulah, 11, and Missie, eight.

Lewis was a real family affair with Fox’s kids Winston and Eugene making a set visit, as did Angela’s girls.

And she says Oxford made a lasting impression on Tallulah in particular.

“It’s made my daughter want to go to Oxford University, so I have Lewis to thank for that.

“She just loved it and it really inspired her. She’s a good girl who’s very academic.

“So she’s already on the way. But this has given her something tangible. She could see where she’d be going and the sort of people she’d be alongside.”

Angela with the rest of the team (ITV)

But with both parents as actors, there’s a performing streak there as well.

“She wants to be an actor, too,” laughs Angela. “She wants to get her A-levels, go to Oxford to study history and English, become an actor for a few years and then be a director.

“She will probably do some writing as well.

“She wants it all and I’m not telling her she can’t have it.”

Although she used to live near the city, Angela says she wasn’t “one of the lucky ones” to be educated there.

However, thanks to Lewis she has had a real insider’s look at the dreaming spires of academia, getting around Christ Church and the Bodleian Library.

“I feel really lucky to have filmed somewhere so beautiful and where you are so welcomed.

“Sometimes you film on location and people open up their houses or their street without really knowing what they are letting themselves in for.

“But in Oxford they know the score and Lewis is really respected.”

It’s the ninth series of the drama, a spin-off from Inspector Morse.

And Angela, who hopes to get back to some stage work soon, says a return is never guaranteed.

“It’s a year by year thing but I think ITV is delighted to have it and I’d definitely be up for doing more,” she adds.

Lewis, ITV, Tuesday, 9pm.