Maxine Peake's diary

After a two-week break it's back to the madhouse and filming the second series of Silk. My character Martha Costello is now a QC, so before we started filming I sat in on some cases at the Old Bailey. It was fascinating and I advise people not to sit watching daytime TV but to get themselves down to their local court because that is where the drama is happening. If you like gossip magazines, then you'll love the Old Bailey.

Both the cases I sat in on were darkly gripping. One lady had stabbed her husband in the leg and another had left the gas on in her husband's yacht. The latter was a very blonde Welsh lady in a leopard-print top. One day, as I was leaving the courtroom, someone leaned over and asked if I was going to be playing her in a film. I explained that I was doing research for a different project, but I have played a few notorious people in my time, including Myra Hindley and Tracey Temple, John Prescott's diary secretary. The next day, my co-star Rupert Penry-Jones came with me to court and women were cooing and going all gooey around him. I was glad he was only with me for a day, because with him I was completely ignored.

When I'm in London I stay in a tiny flat near Goodge Street. We have lots of 5am starts, so I spend my evenings learning the script for the next day's filming and looking up the legal jargon. When I do get time off I try to catch a matinée. I've finally seen Jerusalem and it really is a lovely piece that speaks volumes about what's happen-ing in England now; I hate to use the word 'genius' but Mark Rylance is one. I was having a crisis of confidence recently so I needed to go and watch him to be inspired.

I actually live in Salford, just around the corner from Media City, the BBC and ITV's new Manchester home. 6 Music called me up recently to see if I wanted to pop in to be on Marc Riley's show and sit in on a session by an indie band called Cherry Ghost. They said I'd gone to sixth form with the lead singer, Simon Aldred. I had to Google him, but when I saw his face I remembered him. It was fun to reminisce about our schooldays, and the whole experience was a real treat because I'm in complete awe of musicians and DJs.

I hadn't been to Media City before and my first impression was that it's very windy, although otherwise it seemed nice enough. I am quite concerned that the promise of jobs for locals won't be fulfilled, though. When I'm in London I miss the quiet of Salford. I know some terrible things have happened there recently but that's the same in any city. It was touching how the community came together after the shooting of the Indian student Anuj Bidve on Boxing Day and the candlelit vigil was heartening.

The writer of my new film, Best Laid Plans, Chris Green is also from Salford. I'd read about the film (which is loosely based on the John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men) in the Salford Star before I received the script. The dialogue caught my eye, and also the way the story is delicately handled. I met Chris, who is a self-confessed Mod, in a local pub and we bonded over Paul Weller stories. I thought we'd be filming close by and that I'd be able to just roll out of bed and into costume, but we ended up shooting in Nottingham. Working with Stephen Graham - who plays Danny, a small-time chancer - was another selling point. He said, 'I'll do it if you do it,' and I said, 'If you do it, I'll do it.' So we're both doing it. I've always been a bit of a fan of his.

And to top it all off, I've been doing a few rehearsals for the BBC's Henry IV, Part II, directed by Richard Eyre. I play the prostitute Doll Tearsheet, and I reside in the local tavern with Mistress Quickly, played by Julie Walters. It's a brilliant cast: Alun Armstrong, Jeremy Irons and Simon Russell Beale. At the readthrough I mainly sat there going, 'Oh my goodness, oh my goodness'

It's the first time I've worked with Richard Eyre but he was one of the judges on a panel who awarded me my scholarship to RADA back in 1995. I'd come down from Bolton to London for the first time and everyone was going on about 'Richard Air'; I didn't have a clue who he was. If I had known, I'd have gone to pieces; not knowing is probably what got me through it. I've already gushed at him with the whole 'If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here...' speech. Poor man.
Best Laid Plans will be in selected cinemas from 3 February and is available on Blu-ray and DVD from 20 February