Saffron Burrows

In Boston Legal (2004), Saffron Burrows's Lorraine Weller comes and goes with little explanation. She is one of several supporting players treated that way, in a programme held together by James Spader and William Shatner on a balcony. We were frustrated by the cast's unexplained departures, because it is hard to care about people when the writing seems so ready to dispense with them. That frustration belongs to the series; it tells us little about what Burrows might have done with greater continuity.

Her early films suggest more than those abrupt television entrances and exits. After an early substantial role in Circle of Friends (1995), the recurring collaboration with director Mike Figgis offered dramatic and experimental work, including the title role in Miss Julie (1999). The intensity of that performance is a reason to take her seriously. Deep Blue Sea (1999) points to the competing tendency in her early casting, which could rely too heavily on her appearance.

You (2018), in which she plays Dottie Quinn, is another programme whose appeal is led by somebody else. Penn Badgley makes its stalker thriller entertaining and uncomfortable, with a voice-over that turns courtship into surveillance. The blunt satire and hurried plotting limit how much the series can explore, even when it raises worthwhile questions. Alongside her regular role as Cynthia Taylor in Mozart in the Jungle (2014), it marks the shift towards sustained television work. A longer-running programme still has to make time for the people around its leading actor.

The Bank Job (2008) offers a useful example of what television should make room for: her Martine Love has emotional depth within a femme-fatale part. That accessibility matters more than simply being formidable, and it is the quality we would like her roles to use more often. Start with Miss Julie for the demanding dramatic work, then try the heist film.