Copenhagen, Poole Arts Centre

MANY years have passed since Anna Carteret hung up her truncheon and left Juliet Bravo, but it is still difficult to imagine her as anything other than the firm, but fair, Inspector Kate Longton.

Some actors would resent being so closely associated with one role, but Carteret sees it as a compliment.

"As an actor, you try to convince people that you are that person. In a way it's quite rewarding that they believe in you," she says.

One of the reasons Carteret is only really remembered for Juliet Bravo is that she is predominantly a stage rather than a television actor.

Her latest stage role is as Margreth Bohr in Michael Frayn's Copenhagen, which plays Poole Arts Centre until tomorrow (Saturday November 24).

The play is based on real events that have baffled historians for more than 50 years. In 1941, at the height of the Second World War, German nuclear physicist Werner Heisenberg made a mysterious visit to Nazi-occupied Copenhagen to meet his Danish counterpart, Niels Bohr.

Previously, the two scientists worked together, splitting the atom but now they were on opposite sides of the same war.

The play offers three possible versions of what happened between the two men.

Carteret plays Niels Bohr's wife, who is suspicious of Heisenberg and resents the demands he places on her husband's time and affections.

"The play works on many levels," says Carteret. "Obviously, it's scientific, but it's also psychological and there's quite a lot of poetry in the writing. It's a fascinating - the most unusual play I've ever been in."

Typically for Carteret, she plays a strong character, who takes a stand against her husband's former colleague.

"I suppose I am attracted to parts which show that women have intelligence and humour and are equal to men," she says.

"Anyway, I don't think I'm attractive enough to play a bimbo, so in that respect, I don't think I've had any choice!"

For more information, call 01202 685222.