Age: Late thirties

Lives: Bath

Appearance: 5’ 6” tall, slim and attractive with dark brown hair, worn in a sleek long bob, brown eyes.

Lynn is warm and friendly with a natural joie-de-vivre that is generally infectious. She does have her sober side, occasionally letting life’s knocks get her down but bounces back the stronger for it.

Background:

Born and brought up in the West Country, Lynn joined a television film company as a trainee lighting technician after finishing college. She met and married cameraman, Dylan Saunders and was idyllically happy travelling the world with him making films for the Natural History Unit. An accident robbed her of her husband when his jeep overturned after a night out with some of the crew celebrating the news that they were to be nominated for an award. Her decision to stay at home and .let the ‘boys’ enjoy themselves without having to feel responsible for a woman in their midst left her feeling both bereft and guilty, thinking that if she had been with him, the evening’s outcome may have been different. She threw herself into her work, moving into production and making her mark in the world of television drama.

Lynn had few relationships following the death of her husband, claiming that she did not have the time for commitment, putting her work first. Meeting Christopher James for the first time during the filming of The Inspector Bird series, she came to realise that far from being the arrogant ‘star of stage and screen’ she was expecting to have some difficulties with, he was as lonely as she was. They chatted for hours off set and enjoyed each other’s company, confiding their problems but always ending up laughing at the outlandish solutions the other would suggest to them.

When Ruth James was given a small part in one episode of the second series, Lynn saw for herself that Chris had not exaggerated the way she behaved towards him when out of the public eye. It enraged her that such an intrinsically gentle man could be treated so badly. When she jokily offered her sympathy for his poor choice of wife, Chris dismissed the idea that he had any feelings for Ruth at all, confessing that he had become very fond of Lynn and that their friendship meant more to him than his soulless marriage. Lynn was taken aback to realise that she too had become very fond of him and their friendship blossomed into a discreet romance.

Currently: When Lynn discovered that she was expecting Chris’s baby, she hesitated to tell him, fearing that it would be the end of their romance or that he would insist that the pregnancy be terminated to save his public image. Although initially stunned at the news, Chris was delighted and wasted no time in telling his wife that he was divorcing her to be with Lynn. They now live together in a sprawling country house on the outskirts of Bath.

Please use your back button

to return to chapter page.

LYNN NEWSOME nee Driver

Chris James' partner