GOING from Bad Girl to prissy headmistress in one fell swoop has proved effortlessly easy for actor Jennifer Ness.

Jennifer was last seen on our screens as wrongly convicted murderer Kris Yates in ITV's prison-based drama Bad Girls. She is now starring in the classroom comedy Teechers, written by former teacher and Grange Hill scriptwriter John Godber.

Jennifer said: "Teechers is basically a play within a play within a play - there are three of us in it but there are six different characters. We have to play the whole school from the headmistress to the kids. Mostly it's done just through the dialogue and getting the audience to participate.

"It's quite a difficult play to perform because you are in flow as one person, and within a line you switch to a 16-year old. But John Godber wrote it so well, and that makes it easier.

"The play has changed quite a lot from the original, which was written 18 years ago. John has updated it for a modern audience in terms of references to music and GCSEs. But he feels all the points about education made in the play are still really relevant today. You draw on your own experiences too and everyone can relate to it."

Jennifer is no stranger to tackling controversial storylines following her successful portrayal of Kris in Bad Girls. Her character had taken the blame and the mandatory life sentence for killing her abusive father, saving her younger sister from a life behind bars.

Viewers were gripped by Kris's fight for justice, helped by her partner and prison officer Selena. During the last series Kris escaped from the prison and the final episode saw her standing on a London monument loudly proclaiming her innocence.

Jennifer said: "I've done one and half series of Bad Girls and the last episode did end on a bit of a cliff-hanger for Kris. Series seven is due to start filming in the near future and I might join it at a later stage."

Despite being known for her TV work, Jennifer has extensive theatre experience and is looking forward to treading the boards again. She said: "I've done quite a lot of theatre work before, but I haven't worked on the stage for about four years.

"I love both TV and theatre, but theatre is a lot harder although it is more of a challenge. With TV you don't really have to learn anything and it's all back to front. You can be quite lazy - if you mess a line up you can do it again. But although theatre is harder there is nothing like the buzz when you get an instant reaction.

"My time on Bad Girls was brilliant and I had a total ball. I loved the character and I think she was really courageous. Everyone wanted justice to prevail and I really enjoyed it because there were such strong storylines.

"I'll have to wait and see what the future holds, but it would be lovely to have a mix of television and theatre work."

Hull Truck Theatre Company's production of Teechers runs at Worcester's Swan Theatre from Monday, October 18 to Friday, October 22. Box office 01905 611427.