The Undeclared War star Hannah Khalique-Brown has discussed the season premiere's "too good to be true" ending, after her character Saara - an intern at GCHQ - apparently managed to avert a major cyberattack.

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In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, Khalique-Brown said that by the end of the first episode, Saara is "hated" by the rest of her department at GCHQ – but added that her character is far more focussed on and "traumatised" by the loss of her late father.

"She's gone from being this golden girl, to being hated by everyone in her department, because she showed them up basically, towards the end of the episode," Khalique-Brown explained.

"I remember it [the episode ending] just being about her feelings. [She's] so alone. I think there was a line [in the script], 'She's never been more alone', or something like that. So it's funny, she's kind of almost insulated from a lot of those bigger plot points, because the interior is what takes over her."

On the episode one ending, Khalique-Brown added: "Yeah, so a lot of the time you do get these 'too good to be true' moments [in the script], but so much of the time, especially at the end of the day on episode one - it's basically [been] a four day bender of work that she's [Saara has] been on, with severe trauma at every point.

"She's just absolutely alone and devastated and traumatised, and lost, I think, and that's all that I could really think about when I was doing that."

Hannah Khalique-Brown (Saara) and Joss Porter (Phil) in The Undeclared War
Hannah Khalique-Brown (Saara) and Joss Porter (Phil) in The Undeclared War Channel 4

Khalique-Brown added that her "heart was racing" when she first read the scripts.

"My heart was racing all the time, because it's so intense... the amount of plot twists, the amount of thrilling tension," she said.

The Undeclared War is airing on Channel 4. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or visit our dedicated Drama hub for the latest news.

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Authors

Flora CarrDrama Writer, RadioTimes.com
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