If you’ve finished Strike: Troubled Blood, you’ll have seen Tom Burke’s real-life mum appear in the new series – but who did she play?
Viewers were stunned to see Tom Burke‘s real-life mum appear in the series.
And, after watching the explosive finale, lots of fans have praised the show for the “great casting”.
Here’s what Tom Burke had to say about working with his mum on set and who his mum played…
***WARNING: Spoilers ahead for all episodes of Strike: Troubled Blood***
Who is Tom Burke’s mum and who did she play in Strike: Troubled Blood?
Tom Burke’s mum is actress Anna Calder-Marshall. She is probably best known for playing Catherine Earnshaw in the 1970 film version of Wuthering Heights.
In Strike: Troubled Blood, she played Janice Beattie. Yes – the serial poisoner who was responsible for killing Dr Margot Bamborough.
She first appeared on BBC One last night (December 12) – but if you’ve binged the lot you’ll have also seen her huge finale scene with Tom.
In the final episode, Janice tries to poison Cormoran as he finds photos of all her victims throughout her home. Creepy!
She admits to killing Margot and poisoning many others, including her best friend Irene and her son Kevin.
And Janice even told Strike that she’d have loved to have killed him!
Thanks, Mum!
Tom on working with his mum
Tom told The Guardian that she was “fantastic” in her role as the bone-chilling Janice.
He added that they hadn’t worked together professionally before.
“I haven’t acted with my parents in a long while, since doing Victoria Wood sketches and silly stuff in local theatre in Kent.”
Tom Burke’s father is actor David Burke – so he has plenty of acting talent in his blood.
Speaking with BBC Breakfast, Tom shared that it was especially nice to have his mum when he came down with the flu on set: “Inevitably during a four-month shoot you’ll be hit with the lurgy.
“Our scenes happened to coincide with the day when I was suffering.
“It was nice to have that extra little bit of sympathy than I normally would have had.”
Well, Tom clearly powered through that flu because we think his scenes with Anna were great!
Fans praise ‘great casting’ with Tom Burke’s real-life mum
And it’s not just us – fans are full of praise for Tom Burke’s real-life mum’s appearance in the series.
This fan shared: “Hey look, Janice Beattie is actually Tom Burkes’ mum in real life!”
Another added that Anna Calder-Marshall as Janice was just as they “imagined” and praised the BBC show for the “great casting.”
Lots of fans were also full of praise for the hilarious scene when Janice and Irene (Carol MacReady) are interviewed, but Irene keeps farting.
This Strike viewer tweeted: “Nice to see mother and son acting together tonight. Anna Calder-Marshall (the non-farting interviewee) and Tom Burke.”
Another added: “Such pleasure watching the golden and very funny scene with Carol MacReady & Anna Calder-Marshall.
“It’s still only sometimes we see acting that fine and so pleasing when it comes along.”
We couldn’t agree more!
Strike: Troubled Bood is now available to binge-watch on BBC iPlayer.
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