Joanne Froggatt recently stunned fans with her portrayal of a serial killer in two-part historical drama series Dark Angel.

And now the actress is continuing in that vein of moving on from her most famous role as Anna Bates in Downton Abbey as she cut a slightly dishevelled figure while filming her new ITV drama Liar in Kent, near Deal.

The 36-year-old star, who also appears in A Street Cat Named Bob, wore her blonde hair down in a bedraggled style and her make-up and clothing suggested she was in the midst of filming a particularly stressful or upsetting scene.

Liar, a six-part emotional thriller, will see Joanna star opposite Ioan Gruffudd as they take on the roles of Laura Newell and Andrew Ellis respectively.

Laura is a teacher who has recently come out of a relationship and is debating going back into dating, while Andrew is a surgeon whose son goes to the school Laura works at.

They start dating, but it seems their romance causes some issues for them and their families.

Liar is said to explore the “devastating cost of deceit on both the couple and their friends and family, as secrets and lies are laid bare…”

The series has been created and written by Bafta-nominated producers and screenwriters Harry and Jack Williams, who are responsible for The Missing and One Of Us, and they said that they are “delighted” to be working with ITV’s new Head of Drama Polly Hill.

They said: “This story deals with highly emotional and important subject matter, exploring modern issues of gender politics through the lens of a character-driven emotional thriller.

“We couldn’t be happier with the calibre of the team we have working on this.”