Sandbach resident, Ruth Carney, will be watching her TV screen closely when the new of the Caribbean drenched series of Death in Paradise airs on Friday. (January 7th)

For just like the elegant chess set which sits proudly on her coffee table, the 45 year old former Talke Pits girl will be looking at every move the characters make.

The chess set and the vinyl music collection which Ruth adores both have links to the popular TV crime drama set in the beautiful French island of Guadeloupe where the series is filmed.

Ruth, who did an MA in Theatre Directing in Russia and Middlesex after her degree at the University of Sheffield, has directed the last two episodes in the new series.

So impressed by her talents, which also encompass her own drama school, that the Staffordshire born woman has been invited back to direct more episodes.

Ruth, who moved to Sandbach five years ago with her husband, spent 10 weeks on the beautiful Caribbean island arriving back in early December to a snowy Cheshire.

"It's such a beautiful place," she said. "It's such an unspoilt island and is an amazing place to work.

"It's very hot and we did long days, starting at 7am to try and avoid the heat. Temperatures are around 36 0 C. There's an English crew and a French crew,

"The island relies a lot on tourism so it's great that Death in Paradise showcases the beauty of the island."

For Ruth's two episodes which she directed one revolves around a game of chess while the other has a "reggae rap" – applicable as Ruth relaxes to music when she's not working.

"It's really difficult watching TV as I'm always thinking about the script and characters and what I would have done or what I like or don't like

so I switch off listening to music." Ruth listens to her albums, often Adele, an artist she adores and is regularly topping up her vinyl collection at the Backtrax store in Sandbach. "I would love to direct something she's in," said Ruth who also has a keen eye on emerging talent and has set up a drama school to nurture and help people get into acting. "We love Sandbach. It's such a great place to live with its independent shops and wonderful places go out and it's also very accessible with its transport links." The Carney Academy has classes in Sandbach at Sandbach School and also has a Sheffield branch, a city Ruth adores from her student days. "Emerging talent is so important," says Ruth who always gets shot down when she tells people she has been lucky to get where she is today. "My mum gets angry and always says it's not luck but all the hard work I've put in over the years," says Ruth, for whom who it would seem the hard work has paid off. Her TV credits include Casualty, Father Brown and Emmerdale but Ruth admits she is looking forward to heading back to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe at some stage this year to do more directing on Death in Paradise.