After 21 years as DS Jackie Reid on the TV series Taggart, now Blythe Duff is on the other side of the prison walls playing inmate Fay in Rona Munro’s drama Iron. Though, she insists, her choice of genre is nothing more than coincidence: ‘I wouldn’t say I’m particularly drawn to crime drama,’ she says.

In Iron, Fay is visited by her daughter for the first time in 15 years since being convicted of the murder of her partner. The result, says Duff, is less a gritty whodunnit and more an exploration of family ties.

‘It’s about the relationship between mother and daughter as much as anything,’ she says. ‘There are real moments of fondness between them.’

The show is produced by Borders-based company Firebrand and Duff says it was the company’s location that attracted her to the project when she was approached by director Richard Baron. ‘It’s an area of Scotland that has been neglected in the professional theatre touring circuit,’ she says. ‘I was keen to explore theatre again because I absolutely adore it, and I thought this was the project to do just that.’

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 6–Sat 10 Nov; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 14–Sat 17 Nov.