Now Morag Calder is back on our TV screens, playing ... a nurse!

"I know, it's very weird – I'm lucky to have two careers I love, but they do keep coming together in strange ways," smiles the 34-year-old, who lives in Shawlands.

"Nursing got me into acting the first time, and I played a nurse in River City.

"Then I went back into nursing and heard about this role, which was for a real life nurse."

This time, hopefully, there will be no screaming tantrums or violence (Morag's Shieldinch alter-ego punched her best pal, knocked her love rival unconscious and nearly killed her mother).

In her new role, as Nurse Morag on Get Well Soon –CBeebies' new health show for young children – the actress travels round the UK helping youngsters understand all about their bodies and illness.

The show, which airs in early October, is a ground-breaking first for the channel.

It is fronted by paediatrician and media medical expert Dr Ranj Singh, who tackles a range health topic each week, from nose bleeds and asthma to broken arms and hiccups.

"It is a fantastic show – I think the earlier children are educated about illness, the less scary it is when it happens to them," explains Morag.

"It is very, very funny – the scene where Dr Ranj sings a song about hand, foot and mouth disease is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

"There should really be a late-night out-takes show for parents too – some of it was so funny."

Morag grew up in Moodiesburn, and her gran, her parents, brother and one of her two sisters were all nurses.

"I wanted to be an actress when I was really wee, but my mum wouldn't let me go to drama school," she says.

"But I always knew it would happen one day.

"I left school, trained as a nurse and on my first day in Accident and Emergency, I saw a poster looking for real-life nurses and doctors as extras for a Glasgow film.

"I remember thinking – this is it. This is my way into acting."

The film was Gas Attack, Kenny Glenaan's controversial 2001 drama about an anthrax attack on a Glasgow housing estate, and it gave Morag her first taste of acting.

The role of troubled Ruth on River City came a year later and she was established as a household face and name for the next nine years.

Last year, after almost a decade of tough storylines, she and fellow original cast member Tony Kearney, who played Ruth's best friend Scott, left to start a new life in the Lake District.

"We're very happy there," she laughs.

"Of course I miss it – I played Ruth for a long time, and it was a great experience. Although she did have such a terrible time.

"Even I wanted her to shut up and stop whining when I watched it.

"But I watched the 10th anniversary programme recently and it was lovely.

"I had a great time laughing at all the different hairstyles I had."

After leaving the show, Morag decided to return to nursing.

"Because I had been away for so long I had to regain my registration, and sitting exams after all that time was a struggle," she smiles.

"I did some auxiliary work, which was great, and now I'm in the 'nurse bank', which means I can choose where and when I want to work, leaving me time for auditions.

"It's the best of both worlds."

Coming back into television was nerve-wracking, she adds.

"I was so nervous that I would freeze, or forget my lines, or look away from the camera," she groans.

"Also, the whole idea of working with children was frightening.

"I have three nieces and I love spending time with them, but I don't have kids of my own and I'm not around children all that much, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

"The truth is you can't predict what they are going to do or say at all. But that's the joy of it."

And she adds with a grin: "Get Well Soon is very, very different from River City, but it's lovely."