Maid for me... why Sophie's glad to be of service

"It is great being able to play parts quite a lot younger than I am," says the actress from Bradford. "Any actor is happy to have a job, particularly at the moment. If there is something that enables me to play more parts then I hope it lasts as long as possible. Although it did feel strange being back in a school uniform."

Sophie is as happy on the screen or stage and her latest role is playing Daisy, the housemaid in ITV's much-anticipated new costume drama series Downton Abbey.

Written by writer and actor Julian Fellowes, best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay of Gosford Park, Downton Abbey was filmed on location at Highclere Castle, Hampshire.

Set in 1912, the drama has an 18-strong core cast, divided into 12 servants and six upper class people, headed by Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville.

Downton is the home of the Crawleys, who have been the Earls of Grantham since 1772. In the drawing rooms and library and beautiful bedrooms, with their tall windows looking across the park, lives the family, but below stairs are other residents, the servants, as fiercely possessive of their ranks as anyone above. Some of them are loyal to the family and are committed to Downton as a way of life, others are moving through, on the look out for new opportunities or love or just adventure. The difference being that they know so many of the secrets of the family, while the family knows so few of theirs.

"The world they inhabit is recognisable – electricity, motor cars, trains, telephones. It is not Jane Austen," says Julian. "We chose a time when the destabilising of it is just around the corner.

"In 1912, England was teetering on the brink. Apparently placid, still rooted in the traditions of many centuries, it would be less than 10 years before the First World War and the Jazz Age had ripped every certainty to shreds. This is the moment when we enter the world of Downton Abbey, the great house of a great family, where the Granthams and their daughters preside over a household in the charge of Carson, the butler, and Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper."

One of the understairs staff is Daisy, played by Sophie McShera.

"It was the most amazing experience," says Sophie. "Daisy is at the bottom and is everybody's dogsbody; but she's really fun too, if rather silly. I did end up feeling quite sorry for her."

The makers of the 7m production were determined to ensure the drama was historically correct.

"We filmed on set a lot and had to have etiquette lessons. We also had a historical expert who knew everything about the period on set at all times. One of the first things he did was make us line up in order of importance. I was at the end."

For Sophie, still relatively new to the acting game, working alongside such heavyweights as Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville was invaluable experience.

"When I first saw the cast list I thought, Oh my God, these actors are so amazing. We went for a read through before filming started and everyone sat round this big table. I just sat looking round at everyone and eventually got over the shock.

"Filming was so much fun. A lot of it was on location which was amazing and everyone was so lovely. It really felt like one big family. I spent a lot of time watching the other actors and learning so much from them."

Unlike a lot of her peers Sophie never really dreamt of being an actress when she was young.

Growing up in Bradford, it wasn't until she was 12 years old that she and a friend decided to join Theatre School in the city.

"We weren't very sporty and Footsteps Theatre School sounded fun so we thought we'd give it a try."

As luck would have it, the week Sophie joined they were sending five girls to the London Palladium for an audition for the musical The Goodbye Girl.

"One of the girls had dropped out and they were in a mad panic as they needed someone to fill her space. They looked at me and said 'Can you sing'. I said yes although I hadn't really sung properly before, just around the house. Then they asked if I could do an American accent. I had spent all summer watching Saved By The Bell, a television series about American teenagers, and so was pretty sure I could."

Sophie was chosen to go to the audition and despite being at the London Palladium she says she wasn't at all nervous.

"I think at that age you just take it all in your stride. I had never thought about being an actress so didn't have anything to lose."

She ended up getting the part and touring the country.

"Even then I didn't take it too seriously nor did my friends at school; it was just something I fitted in round school."

But when she landed the lead role in Annie in the West End people started to sit up and take notice, although Sophie says even then she hadn't thought about it being her career.

She studied for her GCSEs and A-levels and then went to Brunel University to study drama.

"When I was at uni I realised that all I really wanted to do was to be an actress," says Sophie. But she was to find it harder to find work as a 20-year-old graduate than as a young girl. "No one seemed to want to know because I hadn't followed the traditional route of drama school and then getting an agent."

She joined Manchester School of Acting, where she still attends every week for acting lessons, as she is sensible enough to realise that an actor is always learning.

When she did get an agent the doors started to open, both on stage and on screen.

"I love doing both," says Sophie. "When I am on stage I am thinking that I would like to do television next and then when I am filming I really want to go back to the stage. I feel lucky that I can adapt between the two."

If Downton Abbey lives up to its billing then it could open more doors for Sophie. There are already rumours of a second series.

"I just feel really lucky to be a part of it," says Sophie who now lives in Horsforth, Leeds, and has no plans to move to the South in the near future.

"It is a pain when so many of the auditions are in London and everyone down there presumes you will be moving South. But I don't see why I have to. I want to stay in the North as long as I can. It's perfect living here," she said.

Downton Abbey starts on Sunday at 9pm on ITV1.