ANDREW WHITE talks to Claire Goose about returning to treading the boards after successes on the small screen...

BEST known for her bedside manner as Nurse Tina Seabrook in Casualty, actress Claire Goose is taking a brief but well-earned rest from TV - to make her first stage appearance in seven years.

The TV star, also well known from two series of detective drama Waking the Dead, appears in a brand-new play, When We Are Rich, at Southampton's Nuffield theatre from this week.

But the jump from screen to stage hasn't been without its difficulties for the 28-year-old performer.

"Everything about theatre is so different from TV. I'm so used to working in a certain way for telly, I'm finding it quite difficult," admits Claire, hastily adding that she means that "in a positive way".

"TV is so much faster. When you do rehearsals on TV, you don't really perform it, you just go through the motions for the camera.

"For the first couple of days rehearsing this play, I forgot I had to perform everything. I suddenly thought: 'Everyone else is performing!'"

In the play, by former BBC producer Penny Gold, Claire plays a go-getting city trader, Saph, who clashes with her mother, a middle-aged woman still clinging to the ideals of her hippie heyday.

"My character is quite ruthless but very good at her job. Saph and her mum have one of those relationships where they get along to a certain extent, then it all becomes very vicious and nasty."

It's a far cry from Claire's relationship with her own mother, she points out.

"I'm extremely respectful of my parents," she says. "The only thing we have in common with this relationship is that Saph and her mum quite like a drink together, and so do we."

Claire, one of three children, was born in Edinburgh but spent most of her childhood near Sandringham in Norfolk. She quickly developed an interest in dance and drama and by the time she was 11 belonged to two local drama groups.

"I don't ever remember being at home," she says.

"What led me to acting was dancing. I'd always done dance shows and was used to being on stage.

"From the age of three, I knew what it was like to perform in front of people. I really enjoyed that, so acting was the next step. I lived for drama on Saturday mornings."

Claire's passion for acting led her to the Italia Conti School when she was 16. Five years later she landed her first major TV role, as Tina in Casualty.

"I went for about three jobs in the same week. I went for Casualty on the Thursday and my agent called me on the Friday and said: 'You've got the job!' I said, 'Which one?' I never thought it would be Casualty.

"I couldn't believe it. I burst into tears. I was at work at the time, waitressing. I was screaming at everyone in the kitchen and they were all jumping up and down."

Claire describes her first year on the long-running hospital drama as "one of the best years of my life".

"The whole experience of that programme was extraordinary. There was always a sense of fun on set and a great social life. Derek Thompson, who plays Charlie, is so friendly and welcoming."

Despite her experience on the wards - including a real A&E shift she attended in preparation for the part - Claire says she wouldn't make a very good nurse in real life.

"It's not something that particularly appeals to me. I'd probably be quite good at listening to people, but I don't think I'd have the stomach for it."

During her time on the show, Claire became romantically involved with co-star Jonathan Kerrigan. Sadly, their long-term relationship broke up and Claire is still waiting to find Mr Right - although right now she's perfectly happy on her own.

"When someone comes into my life, they'll come into it," says Claire, who now lives in west London.

"I really enjoy living on my own. I'd love to get some cats, but it's not very good where I am because I live on the second floor and I've got a roof terrace. I wouldn't really want them falling over the edge."

After When We Are Rich, Claire goes straight into another theatre project before starting work on the fourth series of Waking the Dead - in which she stars with Sue Johnston and Trevor Eve - in September.

Landing parts in two long-running series was a "luxury", she says.

"It allowed me to do these two plays, which, if I spent my life in theatre, I might not be in a position to do.

"Telly enables you to have more of a choice. But I do love TV, and feel very comfortable with it. I'm very spoilt, really."

When We Are Rich is at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton from Thursday, May 1 until Saturday May 24. Box office: 023 8067 1771.