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Acclaimed actress of stage and screen Lindsay Duncan plays Elizabeth Fulwood.

She's not based on a real-life character – she’s pure invention, but she's a woman whose mission is to make her life as pleasant and enjoyable as possible. That's how she’s spent her life to date – on her own terms, for her own enjoyment. At first even the war is not going to make that much of a dent in her pleasure seeking. She's perfectly happy – even when the ship's going down she takes the time to get a nice frock on and be fully dressed. She has a daughter but is initially not that interested in her because she's so self-obsessed. Undoubtedly the fact that her daughter is young and attractive has something to do with why she keeps her slightly at arms' length.

Is it true that Alan Bleasdale wrote the role with you in mind?

It is – and that's a bit worrying isn't it. I hope my massive range was what he was thinking about. Alan and I do go back a long way [GBH, Jake's Progress]. I've been lucky enough to have a few relationships with writers I really admire. Alan has a whole band of actors who he likes to work with, Robert Lindsay being another obvious example, and I think it's enormously helpful to him to feel confident that that actor will be able to deliver. And of course he writes to your strengths which is great for an actor, because Elizabeth is a great part. Something happens to her as a person during the course of the story which is quite profound. She’s also really good fun! I think you have to be flattered, and if Alan does think that I’m a man-hungry lush, well, fair enough!

Have you been soaked like some of the other actors?

I think rather like the character I've had an easy time. But getting wet isn't a problem – it just takes ages to go back to "dry person" and start again. I was sitting bobbing around the water in the middle of the night in what they call a tidal pool in the Indian Ocean. I've got nothing to complain about though – it was beautiful.

Were you surprised that no one seems to know this story already?

That was the really extraordinary thing – this really happened. Why haven't we heard about it? It does beg the question, is it because the hero is German? Maybe because he didn't treat the enemy like the enemy for some people that's somehow wrong. Maybe for others trying to write about German heroes after the war was not going to happen. It will be interesting to see when this goes out how people talk about it and what people think about Hartenstein and the whole event. Because from a – personally – non-nationalistic, post-war generation, I look at it as a great story about human beings and someone who behaved as a humanitarian against the backdrop of war. You think it's a great validation of the human spirit and you want to be told those stories.

I suppose the big theme of it – which exists at different levels in it – is looking after people, taking care of them, whether it's a mother/daughter, father/children, friend to friend. Or a man taking care of people who are the enemy simply because he feels it's the right thing to do. You’ve got to hope that more people would do what he did.

You've been in several highly rated television dramas – what do they have in common?

Writing, that's what I always bore on about – you always want to go where the writing is. You need story and you need characters and someone who is good at people you can identify with. In TV these days fewer films like this are getting made. So let's break out the champagne and put the flags up. This is breathtakingly ambitious – something that you just didn’t think could be made. It proves that it can be done, it makes me tingly.