Interview: Miss Scarlet’s Cathy Belton
From raising the precocious Eliza Scarlet to managing the Scarlet house and now keeping Scotland Yard running, Ivy Woods can do it all—much like the actress portraying her, Cathy Belton! In an exclusive interview with MASTERPIECE, Belton shared insights on Ivy’s evolution since Season 1, her relationships with Eliza, Mr. Potts, and Inspector Blake, even her favorite four-legged friend to run lines with.
Ivy has greatly changed from the woman we first met in Season 1. Can you talk about her growth and how her view of the world has changed?
I think of all the characters in Miss Scarlet, Ivy has the biggest [character] arc. It was interesting, an episode from Season 1 came on my telly one night by accident, where Eliza teaches Ivy to write, and I think this is where we see the butterfly coming out of the cocoon with education.
There are almost two Ivy’s through the series. There is the traditional mother figure at home that we see and meet in Season 1, and then we see this fireball through education. I always think the vowels A-I-E-O-U in that scene where Eliza teaches her writing were the grace notes and the chords for the rest of her life.
So through the series, Ivy has evolved now into this full-blown career woman as well, but that has had huge consequences on her personal life. She finds love with Mr. Potts — how far does she want that to go? Does she want to settle down and be the quiet wife? The dutiful wife to Mr. Potts? Or does she want a career? So I think the big question that Ivy represents and that I’m hoping that we will keep striving to explore is, can a woman have it all? And certainly at the moment, I think Ivy is striving to have it all.
The series often asks, “Can Eliza have it all?” But I think that’s so true of Ivy as well.
I think she’s like a little reflection for Eliza, and between the two of them they make up one great woman. It’s really interesting to see Eliza with her detective agency and wanting… well, they’re both looking for the same things. And I think that’s still happening today. When do we stop as women to say, “We don’t need it all. We don’t need to do everything.” These are really exciting and interesting characters to play in the 1800s, but the same problems still exist today. We’re still trying to break those glass ceilings.
Ivy and Eliza are much like mother and daughter. There is so much of each woman in the other.
They learn from each other and they grow to be better women because of each other. I always think our kitchen in the Scarlet house is the engine room, is the heart. And Ivy is the heart, and heart of this world for Miss Scarlet, which she needs.
I think Ivy is the one that will always see the heart issues with Eliza before Eliza sees them herself. She saw how she was in love with the Duke because she didn’t want to let him go. She got her to write the Duke. She knows deep down Eliza wants to find love, but she also knows that she is this independent, powerful working woman. And the exact same is happening now. This mirroring is going on for Ivy and it’s really, really interesting. The two of them have brought the best out of each other.
What changes does Ivy undertake in Season 5 and why?
I think we see Ivy feeling undervalued, undermined at the beginning of Season 5 and taken for granted. She feels undermined by Mr. Potts as well. He has his career in the mortuary. She’s just to be there. So that’s the catalyst for her to say, “I know I want more.”
I think it’s very interesting to see her when she does walk into that solicitor’s office and there are all these women waiting for the interviews and they just laugh at her and send her to the butchers next door. I think that is superb writing on the behalf of Ben [Edwards] and Rachel [New]. [Ivy] has to build up her own self-esteem again. And her relationship becomes better with Eliza because her self-esteem is up. She gets the job in the police station. Her relationship with Mr. Potts is better to a certain extent. But then the pull-up, does she really want to go back to the old Ivy?
Currently, the relationship with Inspector Blake is quite wonderful. When you think about it, Ivy gets this job and it’s her first job outside the home, and it’s also Inspector Blake’s first job [here]. So I think there’s a real understanding between the two of them. I think Blake sees in Ivy her brilliance and her work ethic. It’s interesting to see that Blake is the person who lifts her up and makes her his personal assistant. I think they’re real peas in a pod.
Can Mr. Potts also love this version of Ivy? Does he love her enough to love this evolved version of her?
I think he does. He doesn’t stop her…I think he knows if he stands in her way, there’s no relationship. He doesn’t stand in her way. He just wants to be there to support her as well. I think Potts can’t believe his luck that he got Ivy. I really do. And I think he’ll just do anything to keep her.
How do you think you as Cathy would handle living in the Victorian era, and what do you think you’d be doing in those days?
I think I’d be doing exactly what Ivy is doing. I think I’d be trying to have it all. I couldn’t see myself being happy in the kitchen at home all the time. I think I’d be trying to be an Ivy. Because I still love my home and I love the Hearth, and I love nourishing people and feeding people and looking after my family, but the work would be really important to me as well.
What is your ideal way to spend a day when you’re not on set?
To take my beautiful little dog, Daisy, that I’m looking at here right now and she’s looking at me, and head off to the beach and walk with her for hours. Daisy also loves when I run lines because she thinks I’m talking to her. So she loves when I’m sitting here running lines on my own. I remember somebody telling me dogs are our earth angels. That’s what they are.
