From the Queen Vic to the Queen's Theatre- Lucy Benjamin still has murder on her mind

The 44-year-old actress said goodbye to her role as Lisa Fowler in 2010 and is now happily settled in Romford, where she is about to tread the boards at the Queen's Theatre for the first time in Deadly Murder.

"It’s very rare you get to work so close to home and it’s a been a real treat," says the mum-of-two. "I can see my kids and put them to bed.

"I have seen lots of shows there, I recently saw their panto and they really invest a lot into production, and the team is lovely and there is a lovely family feel."

She will play glamorous Manhattan jewellery designer Camille Dargus who has a penchant for attractive young men. But gets more than she bargained for when she takes handsome waiter Billy home and finds herself held hostage by a man who seems frighteningly familiar with the past she has struggled to forget.

"It’s a psychological thriller, full of twists and turns," explains Lucy.

"It’s very dynamic and punchy and fast-paced and Simon Jessop the director has a great vision for it, it’s very Tarantino-esque style. So it’s not your typical murder mystery, it’s quite feisty and very physical."

The cast of three all adopt American accents for the dramatic play, an easy task for Lucy who has just spent nine months playing a Yank in the touring version of musical Hairspray with her then two-year-old in tow.

"Kids definitely throw a spanner into the works in terms of what you take," says Lucy, who moved to Gidea Park in 2006.

"When I was in EastEnders I was in a very different situation in my life.

"I don't know if I could go back to a soap now."

However her new role is proving more than enough of a challenge for the former Redroofs Theatre School pupil who says she has spent weeks learning her lines.

"My character doesn’t stop speaking. She’s never off stage. There’s lots of dialogue and she’s quite a complicated character. So it was very enticing when I got the script to do it and challenge myself.

"I would lock myself away for three hours every day to learn my lines and I do get very consumed by it. I get very panicky and stressed and carry it with me at all times.

"I’ll be relieved when we have got the first few performances over and then I can enjoy it. It’s not fear but that apprehension of wanting it to be good."

She says of her character: "She loves a younger man. She’s a widow and I think she’s decided that’s the road she wants to go down because it’s not complicated or messy, and she’s very professional and strong-willed and she likes men that are pretty on the eye.

"I think if there’s a connection between two people it’s fine either way. Age is irrelevant when there’s a spark."

She chuckles when I ask if that’s how it was when she met husband Richard Taggart. They crossed paths on a fight to Dubai and within nine months Lucy was engaged, married and pregnant.

"Yes I think you just know, it’s not something I even think about with us, the age gap with us is only six years anyway, but it’s not something that crosses your mind when you are in a relationship.

"We met and fell in love very quickly, it was sweet."

The former I'm a Celebrity contestant says she is glad the media spotlight, which came with starring in EastEnders and dating co-star Steve McFadden, is no longer shining on her so brightly and these days she is content living in rural east London, looking after her family and curling up with a good book when she has a spare moment.

"I'm just reading The Book Thief and I've just finished We’re All Completely Beside Ourselves. It was fabulous."

So what does the future hold for the actress?

"I have been very lucky in that even when it’s been quiet and I have been out of work I have managed to come though and make a living out of it," she says.

"I’ll see where the road takes me next, that’s what being a jobbing actor is about and I like that."

Queen's Theatre, Billet Lane, Hornchurch RM11 1QT, January 30 to February 21. Details: 01708 443333, queens-theatre.co.uk