Kate Ritchie: Starring in The Claremont Murders reignited something ...

Kate Ritchie says the experience of filming The Claremont Murders in Perth “reignited something in me”.

The entertainment stalwart wants to harness the relit fire in the belly of her 30-year-plus telly career she felt after joining the cast.

Reflecting, Ritchie says the impact of meeting families who knew the victims while shooting the Channel 7 show has cast a long shadow for her personally.

“Working on this project, working in Perth, being on set, surrounding myself with good people has undoubtedly reignited something in me,” the former Home and Away regular turned radio star tells The West Australian.

“Something that might be hard to quieten even if I wanted to. The opportunity to work on The Claremont Murders and watch it all come together ready for air has reminded me of many things. Most importantly of a passion that started long ago.”

She plays Carol Spiers, whose 18-year-old daughter Sarah, played by Hannah Penman, went missing after a night out in Claremont on Australia Day 1996.

Ritchie explains “there is a decision to be made on how to portray a real-life character”.

“I felt with playing Carol Spiers it was less about creating a re-enactment of actual events and more about portraying the character of a mother. A mother who represented all grieving mothers and all those families affected,” she says.

“I didn’t feel any sense of apprehension about taking the role.

“I must say though it was important for me to know that such a drama was going to be handled respectfully as it really is a story that belongs first and foremost to the families involved and the wider community of Perth. I always felt that the telling of this story was in good hands, and therefore I was, too.”

The poignancy of that hit home when she met friends of the Spiers family.

“The content of each day spent on set created an instant bond between all who worked together, cast and crew alike,” Ritchie says. “We were all working towards the same goal and there was no denying that at times we were working alongside locals who knew the families and the girls who were tragically taken from them.

The New South Wales star says the horror of Spiers’ disappearance along with those of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon certainly reached her as a young woman living across the country.

“In the late Nineties I was a young woman myself and so I remember the news as it travelled across the country and continued to follow the updates as the case remained unsolved,” she says.

Backing the importance of the show, Ritchie says: “This drama is an insight into the determination of the police and Alison Fan to bring the perpetrator to justice. With the advancements in forensic science they were able to do that.”

Away from the drama the Nova radio presenter says she wants to strike while the iron is hot after becoming re-energised.

“I have worked hard and it is a wonderful feeling to be back in the studio feeling revitalised. Despite the early alarm clock that comes with breakfast radio!” Ritchie says.

“If I could do it all, I would. That includes writing children’s books and being a mother to my eight-year-old daughter, so wish me luck with my time management!”