"He isn't the person he seems, although he's actually quite funny when he relaxes and gets to know you."

"He's a bit of a loner and he wants to keep himself to himself," explains Mark Womack. "He's the new arrival as well – when the series starts it's only day one or two for him so he's a bit of an unknown and he's very closed off."

He is carrying a legacy of traumatic events and secrets. Letting anyone get close could risk their discovery.

"He isn't the person he seems to be and he's actually quite funny when he relaxes and he gets to know you; he's a nice guy although he's not without the odd sarcastic comment either," adds Mark.

"When I was told I was being sent a script called Sorted I immediately thought, 'oh, drug dealers and gangsters, this isn't right for me', but when the scripts arrived they were fantastic and about postmen for a change. Danny's [Brocklehurst] a great writer."

Mark's really pleased to being playing Jack. "I like playing isolated, seemingly insular characters. I'm drawn to these parts. I'm really chuffed to play Jack and all of Danny's characters in Sorted are really well defined and have their own quirks."

"As the series progresses you gradually understand the reasons why Jack is as he is," Mark explains.

"I like playing isolated, seemingly insular characters. I'm drawn to these parts."

"We were filming at a local bus station and Jack is confronted by his ex-wife. It was a very big scene, very dramatic – I'm shouting, she's shouting, it was very public and we were shooting a lot on a long lens," he recalls.

"I was dressed in my postman's outfit and this little old lady came up and poked me and said, 'I'll report you to the local post office – you shouldn't be shouting at that lady like that!'

"I explained we were making a drama for the BBC and then she asked if she could be in it," he laughs, adding, "I had to say that I was just an actor and unfortunately couldn't cast her."

A bonus for Mark has been working back in the north – like Jack, he hails from Liverpool and admits he misses his home town.

"I'd be happy to move back up north at some stage – and probably will, somewhere north of London anyway!" he smiles. "I like working up here, it's very easy for me to nip over and see my folks and it's nice to have the kids up here because they can see their grandparents."

Mark Womack

Mark's best known for his roles in northern cop shows Merseybeat, where he played DI Pete Hammond, and Liverpool 1 as DC Mark 'Cally' Callaghan.

Other credits include Rockface, Murphy's Law, Nice Guy Eddie and Clocking Off. Most of his roles to date have been in modern-day dramas, so he's keen to do a period piece next. "I've never done one and I'd really, really like to," he says, adding wryly: "I think I've just got a contemporary looking face!"

Off-screen he has two sons and a daughter and is married to former Liverpool 1 co-star Samantha Janus.

For a list of credits visit the Internet Movie Database* »