It’s fair to say that Lale has been put through the wringer on Gangs of London, and that’s largely thanks to her complicated and fraught relationship with Sean Wallace.

In season two, Lale was left fighting for her life after Sean handed her over to Asif in betrayal that has left her scarred in more ways than one.

But Lale is a fighter and a survivor above all else, and as season three of Gangs of London hits our screen, she is determined to not make that same mistake twice. Now fiercer, more relentless and vengeful than ever, her business and personal mission rises above supposed loyalties from the firms that have wronged her.

Speaking ahead of the third season, Narges Rashidi opens up on the evolution of Lale, leading her own standout episode, and her strong off-screen bond with Sean Wallace star, Joe Cole.

Season three of Gangs of London starts with Elliot’s cocaine being spiked with fentanyl and nobody knows who’s done it. A lot of people die, which creates a lot of chaos in this city. It involves some government, and it’s not good for our business, so that’s a problem. So everybody’s keen to find out who it was, why they did it, when they did it, where they did it.

We leave Lale in season two with the biggest betrayal of television history really. We think that her and Asif may work together now, but we don’t really know why, because it doesn’t really make sense. Then in season three, when we pick her up, she’s a bit off. We don’t know - she’s back in London, she’s running her business again, but she’s not quite the old Lale. She gets weird phone calls or something is happening. We kind of can’t really grasp it. But throughout the story, we’ll find out why that is.

Unlike seasons one and two, what’s driving her in season three is her personal journey. In seasons one and two, it was all about her people and cause, and this time it gets more personal. It’s something that she didn’t even expect. It’s about unconditional love, something that hits her really hard, and I don’t think she ever in her wildest dreams thought she would feel that way, and jeopardise her cause for it, but she does.

We’ve got a lot of very interesting new characters this season that I’m really, really excited about. One of them is Zeek, played by Andrew Koji. Zeek is a shady character. Nobody really knows where he comes from and what he’s up to. And throughout the story, we’ll unravel that and find out who he is.

Andrew, I think, is perfect for the role, because he brings his martial arts background, which is so incredible for Gangs and all the action sequences that we have. That’s something really cool. He’s a brilliant actor, and I’m really excited about him, actually. I really enjoyed working with him. We didn’t have a lot of days together, but he’s very fun, super easy-going. He’s lovely. He’s very invested in his character, and very focused when he has to be. Plus, he’s a brilliant martial artist. I hope I get to have a fight scene with him at some point.

Ooh, yes. Hong Sun, our lead director, is very passionate, very detailed, and extremely well prepared. He always has these storyboards he brings to set and explains to you exactly what he wants. That’s Hong Sun. He always has his editor on set, which is very cool as well, he edits everything we shoot right away so we can see it and he can see it. I don’t think I’ve ever worked with someone so detailed, knows exactly what he wants, and he’ll fight for it.

That episode I shot with Tessa Hoffe, and honestly, I enjoyed every second of working with her and Nicola, her DP. I felt like the three of us became this one organism in a way, and we just flowed. We didn’t have a lot of time to shoot the episode. I think we only had ten days, which is very little time. So we had to be extremely well prepared.

As an actor, it’s just such a huge gift to be given an episode like that because it’s a lot of responsibility and a lot of trust and I obviously wanted to do it justice. I think with Tessa and Nicola together, it was a once in a lifetime experience for me. It was very, very, intense, but I enjoyed every second of it.

Oh my God yes, Asif is incredible. He’s just such a gentleman, he’s lovely, he’s a brilliant actor. It’s very easy to work with him. It’s like playing ping pong, we come to set and we never rehearse any of our scenes prior. We just go and do it, and it’s super, super easy. I don’t know if that is because we’ve now known each other for six years, and we’ve done it so many times, but it felt easy from the first day of shooting with him.

He’s just such a seasoned actor, so good at what he does, and he’s got this beautiful face and such a presence. He gives you a sense of calm professionalism all the time. He’s like this…Dad, in a way, or your good uncle. Very, very kind, and I got to meet his family, and they’re very lovely. He’s just such a lovely, lovely gentleman and family man.

Joe f**king Cole. I love Joe Cole. I adore him. The past six years we’ve become friends. He’s part of my family, honestly. He’s an incredible human, to a point where my husband and I, around Christmas, we were sitting there and talking about, ‘okay, if the world goes to s**t and you have to escape to an island and only have five people to take with you..’, my husband said he would take Joe Cole! Which means I had five people left because I would have chosen Joe too. That’s how much we love Joe in my family.

He’s so funny also, and such a great storyteller. He’s super funny, down to earth, the kind of guy that speaks good of you when you’re not in the room. That’s who he is. He’s very modest, very humble, and in terms of acting wise in front of the camera, I don’t think I’ve ever worked with someone that felt easier to work with for me personally. Again, actually very similar to Asif as well, it’s very easy to work with Joe. It’s like playing a long, long rally in tennis, and just playing the ball back and forth with him.

Also, the two of us, we never really rehearse anything. We would always come, and what I love about Joe, and that’s so special, is that he’s really there in the room with you at that moment. He’s so present, every single take. He’s just there with you, and he’s such a brilliant colleague. Like, he’s so giving and very, very generous, and it’s an absolute joy.

Emotional roller coaster.