IT is usually a gamble when actors jet off to shoot new TV series.

The appeal of filming overseas and exploring new places is hard to resist.

But there is always the risk the show could be cancelled, receive poor ratings or be slammed by the critics and then four or five months of your life suddenly seem wasted.

That is not something that Luke Roskell had to worry about though.

When the former Bridgewater High pupil joined the cast of Sky’s Jamestown he knew he was in safe hands. For the period drama, about the first English settlers at a colony in 1619 Virginia, was produced by Downton Abbey creator Carnival Films.

And Sky was so confident about Jamestown that it commissioned a second series before the first series was even aired.

Luke said: “You never know how a show is going to do but with our producers, and Sky who was behind it, we felt really confident and happy that we were going to create a really good series.”

After getting his break playing Sean Spencer in Emmerdale between 2011 and 2014, Luke successfully auditioned for the part of Pepper Sharrow, the youngest of three brothers who came to Jamestown as a child.

Bill Gallagher’s drama explores the harsh realities of the American frontier and also gender politics with the women arriving from England duty bound to marry the men that have paid for their passage. The series launched with an audience of around 1.69 million and among Luke’s highlights has been regularly working alongside Ordinary Lies and Mad Dogs’ Max Beesley who plays his older brother Henry.

The former Broomfields Junior School pupil is now back in Budapest filming the second series of Jamestown. He has been working on set since the end of May and the production is expected to wrap at the end of September. The show is set to return to screens next year.

Speaking to Weekend in between takes, Luke said: “It’s all top secret for now but you’ll definitely see different sides to Pepper. There’s some amazing episodes and I can’t wait for people to see it.

“It’s a massive production so there’s lots of people around.

“It can feel surreal sometimes but it’s great. There’s been lots of ‘pinch myself’ moments. Working with everyone on set and learning from them has been amazing.

“It’s felt like an adventure. I’m doing what I love. Obviously I miss my family but it’s such a good experience. Being in this period, exploring Bill’s amazing writing and being with Sophie Rundle as well as Stuart Martin and Max Beesley as the Sharrows has been a lot of fun because we get on really well. Max has become a really good friend. I’m learning a lot from him. He gives me little tips and he’s someone I look up to on the job because he’s a great guy and great actor.”

Also on the cast are Lock Stock’s Jason Flemyng and Red Riding’s Shaun Dooley.

Luke, who used to live in Grappenhall Heys, added: “I try not to be starstruck. Obviously a lot of the cast have done this great work but honestly everyone on this job is so lovely and kind.

“They’re very talented and watching and learning from them has been great for me as a young actor. I’m really grateful for it.”

Luke found he had a gift for acting when he was nine. He never dreamed of being on stage or TV but just gave a class at David Johnson Drama in Manchester a go, thinking it would be a hobby. It ended up changing his life.

David Johnson has been acting tutor on the likes of Shameless and Danny Boyle’s Millions.

Luke, 20, said: “I was always quite lively and I just needed something to put my energy into.

“So my mum suggested it. We both didn’t really know anything about it. We just turned up and David Johnson was so inspiring. I loved every minute of it.”

DAVID MORGAN