With the next series of Lewis about to hit our screens, Rebecca Front tells KATHERINE MACALISTER why she has so much fun playing the chief.

Rebecca Front laughs when I ask about any romantic developments in Lewis.

“A bit of rampant sex would be good wouldn’t it? But I can’t see it. If only so many people didn’t get murdered all the time,” she muses, before adding “but then I’d be out of a job.”

Rebecca Front of course plays Detective Chief Superintendent Innocent, Lewis and Hathaway’s police boss in the ITV murder/mystery saga about to launch on to our screens with its fifth series.

Worshipped in Oxford, where it is of course set and filmed, Lewis is going from strength to strength, as is Rebecca’s career.

A regular on Lewis and In The Thick Of It, she’s also starring opposite Angelica Houston in the up-and-coming Horrid Henry film and has just filmed an episode of New Tricks.

But Lewis is her bread and butter and pays the mortgage.

“I’d like to do more of Lewis actually,” she says, “because I really enjoy it – the cast and production team is great and the scripts are so clever and witty.

“Working with Kevin Whately and Lawrence Fox is great fun, but sadly I don’t get to see much of Oxford because most of my scenes are filmed inside the police station, miles away.”

Rebecca was a student at St Hugh’s studying English and launched her career from here, so it holds many fond memories.

“I was in the Oxford Revue and did lots of comedy, because I always wanted to be an actor. But I’d never have imagined coming back and filming here and I really enjoy it for that reason.”

Comedy is still Rebecca’s bag, although she’s always surprised when people remark on the disparity.

“I’m an actress and I don’t distinguish between comedy and straight roles, but I’d like to be in more straight drama actually, something really chunky that makes people cry,” she smiles.

As for DCS Innocent, Rebecca is remarkably unprotective of her role.

“Innocent’s job is basically to be an obstacle to Lewis and Hathaway and provide a bit of light relief so my job is to make sense of the script for her as a person.”

What has built up is the on-screen relationship she has with Lewis and Hathaway. “To start with they were very suspicious of Innocent and to be fair, she was a pain in many ways. But now she’s more of a colleague and has a twinkle in her eye and a sense of humour. She does still lose it from time to time and I do enjoy the scripts when she does because she’s under a lot of pressure. And Lewis and Hathaway can be like children – enjoyable but exhausting.”

And in real life?

“Well, Hathaway is sombre and serious while Lawrence is mischievous, cheeky and always playing pranks, so they couldn’t be more different. Lawrence doesn’t want to be taken seriously and it’s good to have someone like that on set because they aren’t real murders are they?”

Lewis aside, Rebecca pads out the rest of her year with the cult series In The Thick Of It and film projects. So is this her time? “Oh no, every job is your last,” she smiles. But won’t Horrid Henry make her a household name? “I hope I won’t get recognised more because I play Henry’s headmistress and look really weird. I’d be offended if I did actually,” she laughs.

And yet the 46-year-old does notice a difference when Lewis is back on TV. “Well sometimes people turn and look at you and whisper to each other, and I wonder if it’s because they’ve seen me in Lewis or because I’ve got my skirt tucked into my tights,” she smiles.

“But it’s always fun because I have such a terrible memory so when I watch Lewis on TV I never know what’s going to happen. Last time my husband turned round and said “are you sure you’re in this?”

* The new series of Lewis, pictured right, is on our screens from Sunday on ITV.