DAWN STEELE is enjoying a homecoming in more ways than one.

The star of Wild at Heart and Sea of Souls is sitting in the plush surroundings of Cameron House hotel to talk about her latest role. When the actor looks around her she can’t help commenting on how it all reminds her of Monarch of the Glen, the BBC Scotland series in which she shot to fame 15 years ago.

The girl who played Lexie MacDonald has come a long way from Highland-set Glenbogle.

She has carved out a successful career in the theatre after filming Wild at Heart alongside Stephen Tompkinson in South Africa. Now she has come home to make her mark on the streets of Shieldinch.

The actor, who grew up in Milton of Campsie, appears on our screens in Tuesday’s episode of River City as Dr Annie Jandhu, the wife of old friend Sanjeev Kholi’s Amandeep "AJ" Jandhu.

“It’s great. We have a tempestuous relationship, you find them at a not very nice point in their marriage, so we’re doing a little bit of arguing and bickering,” she reveals.

“Sanj is great, he’s very confident and really relaxed. Sometimes he doesn’t feel relaxed but he’s very good at hiding it. We get on very well.

“We have just met our son, he’s 20. I said, ‘What do you mean he’s 20?’ and then I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be 40 this year I could very well have a 20-year-old son.’”

Annie is a formidable character and that’s exactly the kind of role Dawn likes to get her teeth into. She seems to have it all – style, beauty and brains – but there’s a vulnerability and a fractured self-esteem she works hard to hide.

She became pregnant at university and then juggled motherhood with studying for a medical degree. Revelations of her husband’s infidelity shattered her world more recently but she is determined to make the marriage work and they arrive in Montego Street after leaving London to make a fresh start.

“Her motto is: failure is not an option. She’s a bit of a tiger mother. I don’t do a lot of smiling but I’m really enjoying that because it’s the total opposite of me,” says Dawn.

“She’s definitely thinking more Milngavie than Shieldinch. I wouldn’t say she’s snobby but she’s middle class, though she hasn’t come from middle class roots. She’s very direct and always in control. It’s really fun to play her.”

Dawn has also had fun choosing Annie’s wardrobe – “very tailored, understated chic” – and working closely with the wardrobe department and director to shape the role. She says landing a character who wasn’t yet fully formed has been a real bonus.

“I will reveal down the line where my mum and dad came from, and I’m sure all these things will be storylines,” she hints.

Living in Whitstable, Kent she couldn’t be much further away from Scotland but this new job, her first soap role, brings Dawn home to family and friends. More importantly, it gives her daughter Coco, who is four next month, a chance to spend quality time with her grandparents.

“They’re coming up,” she says of Coco and her husband, actor Paul Blair, “I’m going down, we’re doing a lot of travelling, but it seems to be working.

“The appealing thing about doing this job was that it was in Glasgow - this is where I’m from and where all my family is and a lot of my friends are. I’m really enjoying it.”

You can tell. During the photoshoot she chats away with the team about making Coco’s costume for Halloween and happily does her own makeup, despite the fact she has been on set at the nearby BBC Dumbarton studios since 7am.

Looking the picture of good health, it’s hard to believe Dawn had a stroke two years ago and surgery last year.

“It was a real scare at the time,” she agrees. “I’m fine now.”

From a vet’s wife in Wild at Heart to a doctor in River City, are there any other roles she still wants to play?

“Monarch of the Glen was a favourite job because it was one of my first after drama school and it’s the job I learned on, it has such a special place in my heart,” she says.

“And Wild at Heart was a standout as I will never get another job like that for obvious reasons – working with elephants and giraffes.

“Theatre wise I’d still like to play Lady Macbeth, which I’ve never done before. In fact, I’ve never done any Shakespeare on the stage before.”

She adds, laughing: “I’d still quite like to play a policewoman, but now I’m playing the doctor I’m slightly fulfilling that. It’s all about the uniform. I’d be a terrible policewoman, I’d be crying all the time.”

River City, October 13, BBC1