Exclusive: Waterloo Road star Lauren Drummond explains return in series finale
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Waterloo Road spoilers follow from tonight's series finale (February 26) which is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer. This article contains storyline details viewers may prefer to avoid until the episode has aired on TV.
Waterloo Road star Lauren Drummond has opened up about Mika Grainger's surprise return in the series finale.
The BBC school drama will air the final episode in its latest series tonight (February 26) at 10.40pm on BBC One.
Lauren starred as Mika in the first three series of the show between 2006 and 2008. She was the sister of Donte's late wife Chlo.
Fans who have already watched the episodes on BBC iPlayer will know that Mika will turn up to support her niece Izzy, who has been struggling with the ongoing changes to the family's home dynamic.
Discussing her return after 16 years, Lauren said exclusively to Digital Spy: "It was a bit bonkers. It was lovely and I'd been secretly hoping for it when it was announced.
"I kept thinking it would be nice to wake Mika up again, but it was bonkers for two reasons – one, my daughter was nine weeks old. I got the call when she was probably about six weeks old, and then me, my son and my daughter all went up to Manchester and moved back in with my mum and dad for a bit.
"My brother had also moved back home with his two children who were the same age. I was actually talking to Angela Griffin about this and she was telling me to write a diary, because you won't remember anything.
"It was like being 18 again – me and my brother both living at home, but with all these extra people, and I was back on Waterloo Road as well. It was really weird because it was like being back at school. I think I have quite skewed memories of my real school and Waterloo Road."
Explaining that it didn't take long for her to familiarise with the show again, Lauren said: "I think what it has managed to do brilliantly is have a refresh, in that the paint looks a bit brighter and things like that, but actually the core essence of the show is still there.
"Seeing all the younger cast reminded me so much of what we were like when we were younger, so the heart and soul of it is still there – it's just had a lick of paint, I think.
"The fans of Waterloo Road are just lovely and they're so loyal. They've been in touch over the years, and then when it came back, people got in touch to ask where Mika would be nowadays.
"Obviously then Chlo died, and everyone was asking where Mika was. It was nice when I came back to be able to have that storyline of where she'd been, and what had been going on, and to tie the pieces together."
Mika's return will pave the way for Izzy to make some huge decisions about her future, much to Donte's fury.
"I think, quite rightly, Donte feels a bit put out that Mika's turned up on his doorstep and is giving him pointers about how to live his life," Lauren explained. "Mika has come to his house, to his door, and told him what he should be doing under his roof, and he's not best pleased about it to start with.
"It was so nice to be part of that storyline at the end of that series, though, and to tie it all up. The fact Mika is able to take Izzy with her is really nice as well."
She added: "On a personal level, I can remember when Scarlett [Thomas, who plays Izzy] was born. Adam [Thomas, who plays Donte] and I were friends from Waterloo Road and obviously we'd bump into Ryan [Thomas, Adam's brother and Scarlett's father] and Tina [O'Brien].
"I remember when Tina was pregnant with Scarlett as my dad was working on Corrie as a gaffer – it's all very intertwined.
"Scarlett is so good. She doesn't overthink it, she just does it, and the emotion falls out in a way that older actors wish they could be. Because as you get older, you start to overthink it, and think about technique.
"She's not been to drama school, she might have done drama classes, but not the official training and I think that's what's so great about the younger ones – they just get on with it."
Waterloo Road airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Read more Waterloo Road spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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