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	The Box: Birth of a new challenge Sunday Mercury; 8/1/2004 08-01-2004 FEISTY Crown Prosecution Lawyer Claire Maxwell has discovered she's pregnant in the BBC1 drama 55 Degrees North. That's not how the part was originally going to pan out - but actress Dervla Kirwan found she was expecting after landing the role. 'It was a surprise,' says the 32-year-old, who has been with actor Rupert Penry-Jones for three years and who gave birth to Florence on May 1. 'I did worry I might have to step down. And the team could have said 'we'll just hide her bump behind files', but instead they didn't - they ran with it. For them to write it into the story is generous of them. 'The upside is you get loads of close-ups. It's actually a great tactic - suddenly you get to dominate the whole thing! In a lot of the later scenes Claire doesn't exist from the waist down.' Claire is drawn to Detective Sergeant Nicky Cole (Don Gilet) but she is having an affair with a married man, and her pregnancy complicates their relationship even more. From shooting to fame in Ballykissangel, Dervla has had lots of experience playing a romantic leading lady, although 55 Degrees North was her first pregnant romantic lead. But she was only too aware of the hormonal changes that go with the condition. 'You can be sensual and sexually charged while pregnant,' she chuckles. 'One leads into the other and it's nice to be able to draw on it without actually having to do research. 'Getting pregnant proved to be a hell of a shock but it's really exciting and interesting. I've always been aware of keeping myself a certain way, so to allow yourself to get bigger and take up more space - well, I found myself apologising for eatingsuch a lot.' She adds: 'I've been waiting a long time for these kinds of roles to come my way. I guess it's the beauty of getting older. 'Ever since DCI Tennison came on the screens with Helen Mirren suddenly you were allowed to be sexy and older. 'I will always worry about where my career is going and whether I'm any good. But I do think there is a massive future for women out there, I really do.' ©2004 Independent Newspapers (UK) Limited.