ACTRESS Liz Hume-Dawson has swapped the stage for the small screen.

The former Honley Players actress has landed a part as a nurse in ITV1’s latest series – medical drama Monroe.

And she will appear as the right-hand nurse to James Nesbitt’s lead Gabriel Monroe, a flawed but genius neurosurgeon.

Sarah Parish, fresh from playing a doctor in Mistresses, joins the cast along with Tom Riley, who appeared in Bouquet of Barbed Wire, which ended this week.

Filming starts in Leeds on Sunday and the six-part series will hit our TV screens next year.

Liz met James, star of Cold Feet, Murphy’s Law and Bloody Sunday, and other cast members for a read through earlier this week. Last week they all attended a boot camp at Leeds General Infirmary.

Liz said: “We’ve had the scripts for the first four episodes so far and I’m in every episode.

“My character Nurse Wicken is really the right-hand nurse to James’ Monroe.

“I like my character, she’s firm but fair. She’ll be in her scrubs and as a theatre nurse will be in with Monroe during operations. She has a lot of respect for Monroe’s role professionally.

“I’ve met James already and he’s such a lovely guy, he’s been doing so much research for the role. We’ve all been in hospital, but he’s seen operations and has really thrown himself into getting it right.”

Liz auditioned for the role earlier this year and read the scripts until 1.30am on the day of her audition.

She added: “The casting director was great and gave me advice, but as soon as I saw the script it was a role that I felt I was suited to.”

For Liz, it’s the seventh time she’s played a nurse, formerly appearing as a senior midwife in Bodies.

She’s on set for the first time on Tuesday. The former Leeds Girls High School has been turned into a hospital for the series.

But it’s a world away from the stage where she appeared for Honley Players and Huddersfield Thespians, adding: “It’s where I started, I definitely have fond memories of it. I’m still in touch with a few Players and hear all the news.

“I enjoy stage work but found myself moving into television, which I love.”

But she continues to keep in with the theatrical world – last year Liz appeared on stage at the Royal Exchange in Manchester and she is also heavily involved in youth theatre, winning awards for her work on Macbeth.

The mother-of-one has previously appeared in Casualty, Dinner Ladies and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.

She played a senior midwife Dottie Sands in two series of BBC medical drama Bodies and also appeared in Jimmy McGovern’s drama The Street.

She now lives in Bolton with husband Matthew and daughter Charlotte, who appeared in an episode of Red Riding, which Liz also had a part in. Although Liz says her daughter, aged 10 next week, is more likely to take up music than drama, describing her as a talented pianist.

Monroe has been written and created by Peter Bowker, who launched BBC1’s hit series Sherlock earlier this year.