When Joe Shaw first appeared as Dominic McAllister in Bad Girls, he couldn't avoid questions about his well-known actor father, Martin. 'You have to accept it because a lot of people are talking to you because of that connection. I started off my first job with him on Rhodes [in which he played the young Rhodes to his father's more mature version] and then, when I started doing Bad Girls, he was doing a medical series. We used to phone each other up and say stuff like: "What are you doing?" He'd say: "Learning how to put a tube down someone's throat. What are you doing?" and I'd tell him: "I'm learning how to lock a door".

Now, though, Shaw has become a star in his own right. The part of Dominic involved more than merely locking doors, and Shaw relished the role: 'From doing the research and going to Winchester Prison to have a look round there, to working on a brand new series, it was a real experience for me. We were creating something from scratch and that was an amazing thing to do. Plus, Dominic was a great character:

Indeed he was. All doe eyes and good intentions, he had his share of rude awakenings, tender moments and close calls. Shaw says that, unlike in some other series, developing the character for Bad Girls was always important. 'The trouble with a lot of series is that you get thrown right in there and you never get to see a character beyond being a doctor or a policeman or whatever. With Dominic, you saw him being a quiet prison officer and then, slowly, you found out more. He was a bit of a grower:

But after twenty-three episodes, Shaw decided that he had explored Dominic as much as he wanted. '1 always said I was only going to do two series and when the time came, I was confident I was doing the right thing; he explains. 'One of the nice things about doing Bad Girls was that you went in every day and did something different every day. It was quite a learning curve but, once I learnt, it was time to go and do something else:

Shaw is looking forward to plenty of new challenges ahead of him. His career, to date, includes roles in Junk, the Screen Two film of the award-winning book, and a radio version of The Chronicles of Narnia. He also enjoys appearing on stage, and has had a starring role in an Alan Bennett play.

As for the future, Shaw is optimistic: 'I'm young and in a nice position where I've done a little bit of everything, so I am happy whatever happens next, whether it's theatre, film or television:

©The Inside Bad Girls Book and Shed Productions.