‘McDonald & Dodds’ guest star Sharon Rooney: 'There’s more to Doreen than meets the eye!’
Best known for starring in such shows as My Mad Fat Diary, Two Doors Down and, most recently, Finding Alice, actor Sharon Rooney returns to our screens this Sunday in McDonald & Dodds Season 2, playing one of five friends who all become suspects when a birthday celebration ends in murder
Always centre of attention, Angela has travelled from Glasgow to Bath to celebrate her birthday with four friends, including best pal Doreen (Rooney). After meeting a group of rugby players, everyone heads to a house party at a mansion, near Brunel’s Box Hill Tunnel.
When promising rugby star Dominique Aubert is then found dead on a railway line — after drinking a lethal, spiked cocktail — all party-goers become suspects.
While McDonald (Tala Gouveia) untangles a web of mystery surrounding the women and the rugby club — and its chairman Jimmy (Cold Feet’s John Thomson) and agent Deborah (Coronation Street’s Natalie Gumede) — Doreen takes an unusual interest in Dodds (Jason Watkins) and the investigation. Is this her time to shine?
We chatted to Sharon Rooney — aka Doreen — to find out more…
Sharon Rooney on her character in McDonald & Dodds
“Doreen is the put-upon friend, and almost like the mum of the group, who’s organised this whole weekend away for her best friend Angela’s birthday. Angela is one of those people who loves to be in the spotlight while Doreen is happy to be in the background. There’s definitely more to Doreen than meets the eye, although that is the case with all of the characters in this series. You think they are one thing and they turn out to be completely different.”
Sharon Rooney on what Dodds makes of Doreen.
“McDonald sees right through Doreen and thinks she is a pain, and Doreen can tell McDonald feels that way about her, so she ignores her and hones straight in on Dodds. She is very excitable around him and constantly calls him 'Sarge’ which confuses him. She seems to enjoy winding him up.
"I worked with Jason very briefly a few years ago and it was really nice to work with him again. He’s such a great actor — so ridiculously talented — but he’s also the nicest guy. We filmed this episode for four weeks and at the end I was like: ‘Do you want me to stay a little bit longer?’”
Sharon Rooney on working with John Thomson
That was pretty cool. It’s funny because we’d worked together on this but when he was on The Masked Singer, I couldn’t believe I didn’t guess it was him. When they unmasked him, my dad said: 'Oh well done, Sharon, you kept a good poker face.’ I was like: 'I had no idea! He didn’t tell his own daughters, why would he tell me?’“
Sharon Rooney on the perfect girls’ weekend
"There is one place me and my best friends go and we love it. There is a private hot tub, so we all sit in there during the day and then, at night, it’s face masks, pyjamas, snacks, films and chatting rubbish until four in the morning. I am a bit like Doreen, I organise it all and I’m like: 'Here is where we are going, here is your itinerary, here’s our budget.’ I’ll get us all matching outfits, matching towels, the whole hog. When I’m busy with work, I don’t get to see my friends a lot, so when we get time for a girls’ weekend, I like to go ALL out.”
Sharon Rooney on being recognised
“My Mad Fat Diary is probably the most common one, although, when I’m in Scotland it’s always Two Doors Down. I have been recognised for Dumbo a couple of times by little kids. I was at an event and this little girl kept lifting my dress up. Her dad said: 'I think she is looking for your tail.’ I was like: ‘That is so cute — but this dress is quite short!’”
With Season 5’s end, we’re back on the Masked Singer hiatus, so in the mean time have a picture of Aki dressed up as the Seashell. I think you know why I decided Seashell. :3
We love coming up with new features to make your experience on Tumblr more visceral; when they don’t work out that way, we remove them to make space for new features. Unfortunately, group chats haven’t lived up to our expectations, so we’ll be removing them from Tumblr this month.
Some of you have really leaned into group chats, discussing the merits of various sourdough proofing times, sharing your WIPs with new audiences, and exchanging complicated fan theories on the provenance of Croki.
The majority of you, however, have preferred to have these interactions elsewhere. And so, as we get ready to remove the group chat feature from Tumblr, it’s time to take these conversations to your reblog chains, your replies, and your messages. We’ll leave your chats up until September 22 at 6pm EST. After that, well, the weird will continue to be your oyster.
This is Bullshit to me but
It was fun while it Lasted
The only Group chat I was in was The Masked Singer group chat and nothing bad happened there
Anyway reblog so everyone can know
Well, f(QUACK) this even though I never used this oh and new TMS season 6 coming tomorrow :]
Revealed: Who is replacing Lindsay Lohan on The Masked Singer
Urzila Carlson has been named as Lindsay Lohan’s replacement on The Masked Singer.
The South African-born New Zealand comedian will take Lohan’s place on show’s judging panel after the singer/actress was forced to withdraw from the show’s second season in the wake of the global coronavirus outbreak.
Urzila replaces Lindsay Lohan as a judge on The Masked Singer this year, Credit: Channel 10
Strict border restrictions in place for visitors due to COVID-19 mean the controversial star is not able to travel to Melbourne for filming for the Channel 10 reality show.
Carlson will appear alongside Jackie O, Dave Hughes and Dannii Minogue on the judging panel. Osher Gunsberg is also returning as host.
“Being on The Masked Singer Australia is very exciting - it’s not something I thought I would ever do, but when I got the call to say ‘Lindsay can’t make it because of Cyrus The Virus, could you step in?’, I immediately said yes,” she said.
Urzila will appear alongside fellow judges Jackie O, Dave Hughes and Dannii Minogue, Credit: Channel 10
"I’m pumped to do the show, but I’m also upset that Lindsay can’t be the other panelist. But for anyone who is at home and angry, think about this - I have to wear her wardrobe because they’ve already spent the money, so they are just putting in a few clips for me.
“Spare a thought for me, and tune in just for that, and the amazing talent under the masks!”
The Masked Singer will premiere on Channel 10 later this year.
