Sci-fi drama Humans shares common ground with the refugee and migrant situation in Calais, one of the show’s main stars has said.

Actress Katherine Parkinson said the Channel 4 show, which returns for a second series this weekend, “is clearly so relevant to things like immigration”.

Katherine Parkinson
Katherine Parkinson (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The 38-year-old, also known for her work in shows such as The IT Crowd and Doc Martin, stars as mother-of-three and lawyer Laura Hawkins, alongside Tom Goodman-Hill, who plays her husband Joe Hawkins, and Gemma Chan playing the family’s synthetic robot, Anita.

Katherine told the Radio Times: “I’m worried I’m a drive-past person. There are some people who have a mixture of naivety and courage that makes them not just talk about how awful it is in Calais but go out there to help, like we all should. I used to be like that, but being a mum …”

Humans
Humans, starring Gemma Chan (Channel 4/Colin Hutton/Kudos)

She gave birth to her second child, a daughter, just weeks before being offered the part and nearly turned it down, but says her husband (actor Harry Peacock) told her she should accept it.

“I just think, apart from all the sci-fi weirdness, Humans is clearly so relevant to things like immigration … I’m not saying the show is directly about hate crimes, but I think the political edge of the show has become far sharper given current headlines, don’t you think?” she said.

This week the migrant “Jungle” camp in the French port city is being evacuated and its thousands of residents are being dispersed.

Humans
Humans, starring Emily Berrington (Channel 4/Colin Hutton)

“It’s basically about the way we treat people that we nominate as second-class citizens,” she added.

“The parallels with Mexicans and America are obvious.”

Being in Humans has been a “nice surprise”, she says, because she never thought she would be in a show like it.

Humans
Humans, starring Katherine Parkinson (Channel 4/Colin Hutton)

She said: “When I was 25 at drama school, I was always described as being too unusual. It was said very nicely – I was ‘quirky’. So I always thought I would end up doing period drama – character parts around the edges.”

Apart from Humans, she can next be seen in the West End, where she will star in a revival of the 1994 Terry Johnson play Dead Funny.

Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times.