This article is from Teletext...

Statuesque actress Rae Baker promises her bisexual biker character DC Juliet Becker will make quite an impact when she arrives in The Bill tonight.

The 28-year-old actress says Juliet will have the guys and gals of Sun Hill in a spin: "Juliet is a real action woman, a bit of a Lara Croft, I have quite a lot of bike chases. There are quite a few people of both sexes who take her fancy. She likes shopping on both sides of the road."

"She will get involved with a man and a woman in CID in the weeks to come. I think she may turn into a good-time girl but she isn't a bitch and everyone likes her. It's a liberating part to play and a natural progression from the gay and lesbian characters who have been in The Bill."

Rae was seriously ill before she landed her plum role in the hit ITV1 drama. She had a relapse after having her tonsils removed and had to be rushed to hospital when her throat started bleeding and her breathing was restricted.

She says: "I was so weak from the infection that my mum drove me to the audition. I was very nonchalant but mum had a good feeling about it."

Rae plays Sun Hill's first biker cop since The Bill began in 1984. Her character roars around astride a Honda Shadow, which is great for Rae who owns a Yamaha Virago. She's been motorbiking since she was 16.

She says: "At the audition I said it was about time The Bill had a motorbike cop and the other nice thing was they kept my Home Counties accent. It's great being able to do most of my own stunts."

But Rae says her first week of filming on The Bill was ruined as her motorbike boots were too small: "As the boots were too small I got compression injuries to my feet and I had to wear slippers!"

For bike stunts that are too risky for Rae a stuntman steps in. She giggles: "He's a bloke in leathers wearing a long red wig— he looks better than me in leathers as he's got thinner legs!"

But Rae says playing a bisexual cop in The Bill isn't her most unusual ever role.

The actress, who is 5ft 11in, explains: "Last year I was a transsexual man in the stage play Skin Deep. It was a very disturbing part as I came off stage every night battered and bruised.

"It was a tough challenge but it did give me a kind of insight into my character Juliet Becker's bisexuality — it's an important subject which is not really talked about that much."

Rae has a lucrative contract with The Bill that will keep her at Sun Hill until February 2005. She says: "It will provide me with a lot of security and so I'm going to buy a property in London as an investment.

"The funny thing is that when I got this part I was also offered a semi-regular part in EastEnders - I was a bit gutted that I wouldn't be able to go to the Queen Vic!"

Theatre legend Sir Cameron Mackintosh played a crucial role in Rae's career. The impresario paid her drama school fees when she ran out of money after he saw her audition.

Rae turned down his offer of a part in Les Miserables but appeared in Guys 'n' Dolls and A Winter's Tale on stage. Her other TV credits have included Birds Of A Feather, One Foot In The Grave, Jonathan Creek and Goodnight, Sweetheart.