Amanda Burton: 'I've loved Waterloo Road'

Amanda Burton has spoken about her upcoming exit from Waterloo Road, saying that she has "massively enjoyed" her time on the school drama.

Burton confirmed her exit from the BBC One series in April, with the actress having already filmed her final scenes.

The former Brookside actress told TV Times that it just felt right for her character Karen Fisher to leave the drama.

Burton said: "I massively enjoyed my time at Waterloo Road and Karen has been really good fun to play. There's a huge family attachment which is something I've really enjoyed, but I just loved the story of my 30 episodes, so I felt that it was a very good thing to leave it there."

Speaking about playing Karen in her final series, she added: "Yes, I've been able to lighten her up quite a lot and have much more fun with her. When we first met Karen she was having problems with her marriage, and her daughter, Bex, had been missing for two years.

"It was a very angst-filled time for her, but a lot of things have resolved themselves in her family now and she's been able to think about having some time for herself. Plus of course there's been the arrival of someone who catches her eye in Robson Green's character, Rob. She has been distracted at work, which is very unlike her."

On working with Green, Burton said: "It's been great fun and a lovely tonic to Karen's other storylines. Robson and I had lots of good scenes to play together and I'd wanted to work with him because I thought we'd be a good team. I hope that plays out on camera."

Burton revealed that Karen may struggle with difficult decisions in upcoming episodes. She said: "Karen has to really fight for her school and for her own standing, because it's a failing school and they don't feel that she's in control.

"She makes some unwise decisions, things spiral out of control and that's really where we leave Karen at the end."

Burton added: "The cast and crew on Waterloo Road are all really lovely and quite extraordinary. It's a tough show to do and it really is non-stop - people's energy and commitment is second to none up there."

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