For inspiration, as well as delving into research on “counterterrorism and the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, the intelligence service “that sets the level of threat that the UK is under at any given time”, she looked at someone she knows IRL, who she’s wanted to channel in a role for a long time (although she’s naming no names “because she’d probably kill me”).

“I’ve always been very intrigued by people’s idiosyncrasies from a very young age, and then copying them, enjoying that whole process of imitating,” Panjabi explains. “The more and more I work, as soon as I see something that stands out from somebody on the street or somebody that I know, I just file it inside and hope that it will be useful for my next role.”

Archie Panjabi on seriously tense thriller Hijack, playing “abrasive” female characters and Bend It Like Beckham 20 years on