Maimie McCoy wanted her Van Der Valk stunts to be ‘as raw as possible’

Van Der Valk star Maimie McCoy has said she left herself “absolutely battered” by trying to make her stunts on the show “as raw as possible”.

The actress, 41, stars alongside Marc Warren in the detective drama, which was filmed entirely on location in Amsterdam.

She said she asked the producers for a full fight sequence and wanted to throw herself into the stunts.

McCoy told the PA news agency: “I have had a fair amount of experience. On The Musketeers I did a little bit of stunt work. But not a prolonged fight sequence, so I requested one.

“I love throwing myself into it. But you also realise you have to be immensely careful, and just marvelling at your stunt team.

“They have trained for years and years and years so they can make it look very easy, and they can sell it in a way where they are looking after their bodies.

“Sometimes I throw myself in a little bit too much, for it to be as raw as possible. Then you realise you have to repeat it for an entire day.

“And you are absolutely battered and you have put your shoulder out and you’ve screamed yourself hoarse because…

“There’s a massive amount of technique needed and I would find it quite frustrating because I wanted to do the whole thing but you can’t.

“There’s a reason why your stunt team are there and your stunt double is there to step in, just to protect you.”

McCoy promised the final episode would begin with a “shocking” murder.

Addressing the show’s depiction of violence, she said: “Some of the deaths we have are pretty gruesome. There is one at the beginning of episode three on Sunday which is…

“I have not seen anything quite like that on television. I remember when I saw the actor with all the make-up and prosthetics and stuff, and it was really quite shocking, when I first saw it.

“It’s an interesting one, stepping into the shoes of the police and realising that is what they witness on a daily or a weekly basis, and how that affects you. Because it has to affect you.”

The series denouement will be set on a Dutch oil rig converted into a restaurant, and will feature a “dramatic” final shoot-out.

She said: “The story propels us to this restaurant and there is this very dramatic shoot-out there and I get this amazing fight sequence with a couple of the assailants.

“I’ve not actually seen that last episode but I just know it should be quite a thrilling set piece, building and building and building up until then.”

The first series of Van Der Valk, a 21st Century reworking of the classic series that began in the 1970s, concludes on ITV on Sunday.