Amanda Donohoe has admitted that she was fed up before she landed a role on ITV soap opera Emmerdale.

Amanda has blasted screen writers for not creating enough meaty roles for women over forty and says that a soap is almost the only option left for older actresses wanting to be challenged.

In an interview with The Times, Donohoe said:

“Where is it? Where the hell is it? These are women who run the country, run the families, run the businesses, and they’re being ignored,” she explained.

“I don’t see anything else being written for women of my age, and believe me I’m fed up with playing detectives. How many times can you do an interview scene? The irony is that it’s the criminals who get all the great dialogue. You’re just sitting there going, ‘And where were you last Thursday, madam?’”