Kate Phillips, Miss Scarlet Season 6 | MASTERPIECE Studio
Released January 12, 2026 21:37
WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 1 of Miss Scarlet Season 6.
Actor Kate Phillips joins us today to discuss how her character, Eliza Scarlet, deals with all of the new challenges in Season 6 and how she balances the professional with the private.
This script has been lightly edited for clarity.
Jace Lacob: I’m Jace Lacob and you’re listening to MASTERPIECE Studio.
In Season 5 of Miss Scarlet, Scotland Yard welcomed the hardworking and well-respected Detective Inspector Alexander Blake. Despite Eliza Scarlet’s best efforts to foster a professional relationship with Blake, the two got off to a rocky start. Over the course of the season, their brief moments of closeness were inevitably marred by tension, but by the end of the season, Blake invited Eliza into his home. Fast forward to Season 6 and the pair is getting along quite well.
CLIP
Eliza: We need to be careful. You cannot simply kiss me in the middle of my hallway, Alexander.
Blake: You didn’t seem to mind.
That’s right, Eliza Scarlet and Alexander Blake are an item… unofficially. While they’ve shared their feelings for each other in private, their romance is still very much a secret. They must tread carefully as their love life could spell disaster for their work life.
CLIP
Blake: Eliza, I have offered you three cases in the past fortnight, all of which you’ve turned down.
Eliza: I’ve been extremely busy.
Blake: How does Clarence feel about you turning down work?
Eliza: He feels the pain every bit as much as I do.
Blake: Mm. You didn’t tell him, did you?
Eliza: The truth is I, I worry what it would be like working together now.
Blake: As do I. But there’s only one way to find out.
Eliza: Yes, but I’ve never been in this situation before, I don’t want anything to ruin it.
Eliza struggles to find the equilibrium between her and Blake personally and professionally. She knows things cannot go on forever as they are, especially as those close to Eliza begin to question her peculiar actions as of late. In an effort to appease Clarence, and perhaps to keep the lights on, Eliza agrees to a case offered by Scotland Yard.
CLIP
Clarence: An urgent request from Scotland Yard. That’s welcome news indeed! Shall I get you a cab?
Eliza: Not yet, I’m thinking.
Clarence: May I point out that you’ve been reading the same telegram for almost ten minutes now.
Eliza: What if another case comes in? Something... something bigger, more lucrative.
Clarence: I don’t understand.
Eliza: Well, it’s a fairly simple concept.
Clarence: I don’t understand because that’s literally never bothered you before. Am I missing something or...?
Eliza: Fine. Fine, I’ll go!
Today, we’re joined by Miss Scarlet star Kate Phillips to discuss her character’s new relationship with Alexander Blake, how she balances the professional with the private, and the high stakes for keeping this relationship hidden from prying eyes.
Jace Lacob: And this week, we are joined by Miss Scarlet star Kate Phillips. Welcome.
Kate Phillips: Hello.
Jace Lacob: So, Season Five of Miss Scarlet ends with the possibility of romance or friendship between Eliza and Alexander as he invites her inside his house. When we pick back up, however, they're not tiptoeing around, they're a couple. How surprised were you to discover that Rachael New had ended the will-they-won't-they by saying, they are?
Kate Phillips: I was very excited to discover. But in true Rachael New form, it's revealed in a very delightfully Miss Scarlet-y way in that you think they're having an argument, but then it turns out it's just lovers, like a role playing moment. And it's just very cute. And I think we were both thrilled because that last scene at the end of Season Five was really fun to play. We both enjoyed the rom com element of it. It was giving kind of like 90s rom com vibes. And we really were very pleased to lean into it. So, there's a lot of that going on in Season Six.
Jace Lacob: 90s rom com vibes, I love that.
Kate Phillips: Yeah.
Jace Lacob: I mean, I was shocked to discover that we jumped ahead of those initial first courtship steps into full fledged coupledom. How did Rachael pitch this twist to you ahead of production?
Kate Phillips: What tends to happen is that the scripts come my way. There's always chats and everyone's open to conversations about it, but Rachael is an expert at what she does, and I get the scripts really early on, and I'm just very thrilled to be welcomed in as early as I am. But I'm just a very happy bystander. I read it like a fan and I learn my lines.
I guess we do skip the very sort of early bits of that relationship. However, they're still in that sort of falling deeply in love stage where perhaps at certain times you're seeing your partner through tinted lenses. And what maybe comes up over the course of the series is a sort of like, oh, do I really know this person? I've only really known them for a short period. Hold on a second, who is this person? So there's that classic early relationship bumps in the road stuff that you encounter or you can encounter at times.
Jace Lacob: Let's talk about that bubble then, because they very much are in this bubble. They're away from the prying eyes of their friends and colleagues. Why does Eliza believe it's essential to keep their relationship a secret, even from Ivy and Barnabus, who are living under Eliza's roof at this point?
Kate Phillips: Well, as you say, they're having a great time but without the rest of the world looking in and having their own opinions or maybe frowning upon their relationship because it's going to compromise Eliza's business, for example, Clarence. And so I think she's having a lovely time and she doesn't want anyone else to ruin it. And I think we can all understand that.
Jace Lacob: We can understand that, we get that. I mean, she's pretty forthright about it. She says,
CLIP
Eliza: Oh, I just, I just want to stay in this bubble forever. No one else knowing or interfering. Things are perfect as they are.
Jace Lacob: For Eliza, knowing and interfering are her two biggest M.O’s. Is this Eliza protecting the preciousness of this fantasy from the harsh reality of expectations or obligations? What is she afraid of, then?
Kate Phillips: Well, she's not living in the real world, is she? I think she's come a long way from Season One where she hasn't, up until this moment, been able to even consider having a relationship where she could perhaps have a better, healthier work-life balance where she's actually been able to prioritize or give space to another person that hasn't been Ivy. And she's now finally created a space in her life where she's able to do that, and with someone with whom she knows that it could potentially be difficult for her work, which has always been her number one priority up until this point.
She's done really well so far. So, I think she's just terrified because things are going really well and I just don't think she wants to ruin it. And up until this point in her life, things tend to go south. They don't stay good for too long. So yeah, in her experience staying in the bubble is probably the safest place.
Jace Lacob: I think at the same time she's embarking on this romantic adventure with Blake, her status quo has been disrupted at home. Barnabus Potts has been fired, he's wandering around Eliza's house. Ivy's at the clerical office of Scotland Yard. Things are just sort of messed up at the moment and a bit chaotic. Does that add to the need to keep this lid tightly on her relationship with Alexander, to keep the peace at home a little bit?
Kate Phillips: Yeah, I would say that her life is always pretty chaotic. And I can't imagine how easy it is to have Barnabus living in her home. It’s probably a bit tricky. So, just having a little somewhere to escape where she doesn't have to put that in the mix is probably a bit of a relief.
Jace Lacob: I would think so. One of the things I love most about this is that Eliza and Blake are investigators. Their job is to uncover secrets and bring the truth into the light. But here they are attempting to conceal this secret. Does that need for secrecy bring them even closer together?
Kate Phillips: Yes, of course. Well, it's delicious isn't it, when you share a secret with someone? We've all been there at the beginning of a relationship where you are the only people in the world that know this is happening, and it's very bonding. But, it's not sustainable as we are soon to discover. You've got to find a way to weave in those lovely, personal, lovely things with the realities of life and try to find a healthy balance. Blake's daughter doesn't know about their relationship, and they've got to be really careful with that because the emotional stability of a young girl is sort of at risk there.
So you know, there's a lot there's a lot going on. There's a lot there's a lot at stake; Eliza's work, Blake's work. I think Ivy would probably be over the moon to discover that she's fallen in love. But even that would be an interference that I think that Eliza just wouldn't really want to have to deal with, the overbearing mother.
Jace Lacob: She's still determined and focused on her work, but at the start of Series Six, there is a new lightness and happiness to Eliza that we don't ordinarily get to see for her character. What was it like getting to play these facets of Eliza's character, to allow her to relax a little bit, to enjoy herself a little bit here?
Kate Phillips: It was a total joy. I've been with her for six seasons now, and in some ways she is a little bit of me. And to be able to step into the mind of this young woman who has been so, at first grief stricken, so challenged, so alone, so heartbroken, and then to have at least one element of her life, there's a real sense of clarity and stability and she just seems so much more grounded. And I’m really proud of her that she's been able to just get a better balance in her life. And Blake's really good for her. I think he really cares for her. And it's just very sweet.
Jace Lacob: It is very sweet. I love their dynamic. Series Five found them on a tentative footing with each other, and there was a newness to their working relationship and a romantic tension to their personal one. With Series Six, how has it been working with Tom Durant-Pritchard to showcase a couple who have gotten together romantically, but now also have to work together as well?
Kate Phillips: Yeah, so obviously they've taken a step forward in their relationship. They're more comfortable with each other. There's a kind of open, mutual… is there a love, an admiration, a fondness? But again, they're still very much at the early stages, and I think they maybe don't know everything about each other. Or sometimes reality kicks in and there's still a little bit of tension. They've definitely got to work through some stuff. And I think the viewers will enjoy maybe a kind of, can this still work? Eliza's a very particular woman. There's very few women like her out there in that period, and I think it's a challenge for both her and Blake to try and make this relationship work. And I think they've kind of… there is a moment during the series where Blake has to think, can I do this? And I guess you’ll see whether he can overcome that.
Jace Lacob: He says to Eliza in Episode One,
CLIP
Blake: You are so intent on keeping our relationship secret that you are in danger of broadcasting the very thing you’re trying to conceal.
Jace Lacob: And Clarence is immediately suspicious that something has occurred. He thinks Eliza maybe insulted Blake in some way.
CLIP
Clarence: Usually in such lean times you’d be accusing Scotland Yard of employing an alternative agency. Usually you’d be on your feet and out the door to talk to the Inspector. Usually...
Eliza: Can you please stop saying ‘usually’?
Clarence: This is about you and Inspector Blake, isn’t it?
Eliza: I have no idea what you mean.
Clarence: Oh, I think you do. You have offended him in some way and he’s refusing to employ you.
Eliza: Your powers of deduction still need honing, Clarence. I can assure you, Inspector Blake and I are on the best of terms. Professionally speaking. Now, can you please drop that odd looking frown. It’s very disconcerting.
Jace Lacob: And I love an Eliza-Clarence scene. They are some of my favorites in the series. What do you make of Eliza and Clarence's dynamic in Series Six?
Kate Phillips: It's just really silly and very playful and, I mean, with every one of Eliza's relationships, there is a kind of friendly sparring. And it just happens in slightly different ways with each character. With Ivy, it's this kind of surrogate-mother-daughter sparring. With Moses, there's always a kind of brother-sister dynamic going on, similarly with Nash. And with Clarence, I don't know how to describe it, but whatever it is, it's very fun. It's very fun working with Paul. And he's so neurotic. Not Paul of course, but Clarence. But what amuses me is that she finds him so tedious. But in the same way, she can be so tedious about things that she finds interesting. It's just so, so silly. The two of them are so like each other, but they don't realize.
MIDROLL
Jace Lacob: And we’re back with Miss Scarlet star, Kate Phillips. Love hasn't dulled Eliza's spark or her drive. In Episode One, she drugs eight men and obtains a priceless artifact, returning it to the British Museum. And she downplays the risk with her trademark wit, “A little laudanum never hurt anyone, Inspector Blake.” How much do you continue to relish that banter that we're talking about within these scripts?
Kate Phillips: Oh, I love it. I love it, I love it, more of it. I remember, I sort of reflect on the growth of that character over the seasons. And I remember watching Series One back, I always find it quite interesting because having watched Season One, I really appreciated what works with the comedy and sort of leaning into and enjoying those little dynamics where that's the kind of heart of the show, the kind of twinkle. So yeah, I just really enjoy doing it. And each actor and each character brings out so many different nuances and dynamics to that sparring, and it's just really fun.
Jace Lacob: Eliza tells Blake,
CLIP
Eliza: Alexander, when we’re working together, it’s best that you treat me as you would one of your men. You can be polite in our private time.
Jace Lacob: And yet, Eliza seems flustered on their first professional engagement since becoming a couple. Given their new intimacy, is it possible that she can't treat him the same way anymore?
Kate Phillips: I think she's completely overwhelmed. She's never been in a relationship before and I don't think she quite knows how to do it. Watching Eliza struggle is one of the fun elements to the show. She's so composed and so capable in so many other areas of her life, but it's always been in her romantic life that she just kind of falls flat on her face. And I think it is quite amusing to watch her overcome those challenges.
Jace Lacob: She says she's going to back out of the case. She says,
CLIP
Eliza: I made myself look an idiot.
Blake: You’re overreacting.
Eliza: Do you have any idea how hard it’s been for me to build my reputation, only to act like some damsel in distress. I even called you Alexander!
Blake: Detective Willows won’t care. He’ll put it down to you being scared witless. Which, by the way, is allowed, since you are a mere mortal like the rest of us.
Eliza: I am tying myself in knots thinking what I should say, what I should do, how would I behave if I were a normal detective?
Blake: When exactly were you normal?
Jace Lacob: Is this a case of Eliza not being able to have it all in a way that Blake, as a working man, can't possibly understand?
Kate Phillips: I think you're right. I think for sure the risks are greater for her. I mean, she runs her own business. She hasn't got the stability or the… he works for Scotland Yard. He works for an organization. Eliza is self-employed. She doesn't have anyone to fall back onto. She's out there fighting for her livelihood, of which she has been fighting for for as long as we've known her. And yeah, the risks for her are far, far, far greater. There's no question. And that's, I think, what we just really love about her is that she's just sort of endlessly hustling for her survival.
I would, though, argue that she could have been a bit cooler. I mean, she didn't necessarily need to lose her cool as much as she did. But again, perhaps that speaks to the fact that she's just so overwrought by how high the stakes are for her in comparison to him. But we've seen her keep her cool in the past. So I feel like she just needs to get a grip, I think. She's okay.
Jace Lacob: She's in the throes of a new romance. There's a lot going on. But then she finds her cool collected self again.
Kate Phillips: Yeah. She finds it. She rebalances.
Jace Lacob: So Episode One ends with Eliza after Blake tells her to confide in someone other than him finally telling Ivy about her relationship. She says,
CLIP
Eliza: Ivy. There’s something that I need to tell you about myself and Inspector Blake.
Ivy: I’m listening.
Eliza: Well, he’s coming to dinner, so we need to set an extra place.
Ivy: And?
Eliza: And... we are currently enjoying a quiet, very private... courtship.
Ivy: Goodness me, I had no idea.
Eliza: You’re a terrible liar.
Ivy: And you shouldn’t have kept it from me!
Eliza: And you shouldn’t be listening at doors.
Jace Lacob: And Ivy already knew, of course, but that doesn't dull her excitement. Does telling Ivy puncture the bubble for Eliza, or does it end up inviting more joy into her life?
Kate Phillips: I feel like it just invites more joy. It just kind of enriches that relationship. I think perhaps the reason why she didn't instinctively bring Ivy in is that fear that when other people find out about it, it does burst the bubble and suddenly the magic is lost. But what she discovers is that it just goes to make the relationship better and more fulfilling. And so, he was right that she should tell Ivy all along.
Jace Lacob: And he tells her, “When you stop trying to control your life, that's where true freedom comes from.” And I think this is an act of freeing herself from her own expectations and from self control and allowing others in, even if it's Ivy to share in that sort of happiness that she's experiencing.
Kate Phillips: I think we all can recognize that in ourselves. It's difficult to let people in sometimes and making space for other people's joy and expectation of your own successes and stuff, it can be hard. So I get the challenge, I get what the challenge is for her. But it's great to watch her overcome those challenges.
Jace Lacob: Love it. Kate Phillips, thank you so very much.
Kate Phillips: Thank you.
Next time, Eliza and Blake set some parameters for their relationship to keep their work and their romance separate. But no matter how hard they try, work manages to creep in.
CLIP
Blake: Do you have dinner plans this week?
Eliza: No, nothing as yet.
Blake: I was thinking… there's a nice little bistro south of the river. We could go there for dinner one night.
Eliza: I'd like that. We can discuss the Lewis case. Or perhaps we could talk about it now?
Next week, we’re joined by Detective Inspector Alexander Blake himself, actor Tom Durant-Pritchard, to discuss Blake’s side of the relationship, as well as the new additions to Scotland Yard.
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