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Series one saw Ray and Chris, Gene Hunt's right-hand men, move to London to help fight the criminal scum from the south. They were faced with drug dealers, unscrupulous City boys and, of course, Alex Drake, but their relationship was tested the most by WPC Sharon "Shaz" Granger.

Chris was instantly smitten with Shaz and Ray was not happy that suddenly his best mate was going to the cinema to see girly films rather than drinking with him in the pub. Here Dean Andrews, Marshall Lancaster and Montserrat Lombard talk about what happens next, relationships and stripping...

So what's new?

"Well, everything's moved on a year to 1982," explains Marshall. "The team are still together with the same great dynamic and we're still out there fighting the southern scum!"

"I think Alex is a lot more accepting of her situation now," adds Dean. "She's still pursuing her journey to get home but isn't quite so desperate to get back."

However, Shaz is still having a tough time because things haven't really progressed for WPCs in 1982.

Montserrat explains: "It's almost a running joke for the team that every time Gene asks Shaz to do something, she gets her hopes up that it's going to be something good but it turns out to be 'can you make 15 black coffees?' or something equally unimportant."

But it does seem there could be light at the end of the tunnel for her: "She's really influenced by Alex and, fortunately, Alex sees her potential and gives her much more responsibility. For example, in episode two Alex makes her Romany Liaison Officer."

CID's cutest couple, Chris and Shaz, are still together and their relationship is as strong as ever.

"Chris has wedding bells in mind," admits Marshall. "It's a really big thing for him; he's saved up to buy the ring and really just wants to make Shaz his wife."

"And the main thing is Ray gets to be best man!" laughs Dean. "Obviously he would never admit it, but he is really happy for them and he's maybe even a little bit jealous of what they have..."

While their relationship may not always be smooth sailing, it's obvious how much they love each other.

Montserrat continues: "Chris isn't the most modern of thinkers, so it's a constant battle for Shaz to try and get him to warm to a new way of seeing things and treating women. However, he is always trying to be more open and modern and this is what she finds charming and loves about him."

But Chris's attempts to be a modern man are not always easy on Marshall.

"In episode one the team has been investigating a murder in a Soho strip club and Shaz is not impressed by the way that Gene, Ray and Chris treat the girls who work there," explains Marshall. "So in an attempt to redeem himself and show he's a modern man, Chris does a striptease for Shaz in front of the whole team!"

"I really felt for Marshall, but it was brilliant," giggles Montserrat.

"I had a lesson with a stripper," confesses Marshall. "She showed me a few moves, although some of it was completely spontaneous, I have no idea where it came from!"

Dean is quick to admit that Marshall did really well, but won't be volunteering to strip himself anytime soon: "I would much rather it was him than me, but then Ray would never go in for any of that modern man rubbish so I'm safe."

As with series one, a massive part of the second series is the wonderful Eighties fashion. This time round the wardrobe department has been able to go all out with Shaz's costumes.

"In the second half of filming Shaz was out of uniform a lot so we really went for it with costumes," raves Montserrat. "I had some great party dresses and big crimped hair. We also filmed the wedding dress fitting and we kept the dress new romantic rather than going for the meringue look."

Although Montserrat was thrilled with her costumes, the Eighties look isn't quite so good for the boys.

"Some of the trousers were really tight and some were massively baggy, there was no in between for Chris," winces Marshall, thinking about the skin-tight, faded denims he spent half his time squeezed into. "Sometimes I'd feel like I didn't have a pair of trousers on and sometimes I felt like I was sewn in, but it made me keep in shape so I could still fit in them!"

As for Ray, Dean explains they kept it simple: "He's still the same handsome, rugged and charismatic guy he's always been, the clothes don't make this man!"

After six months of filming it's understandable that Dean, Marshall and Montserrat are glad of a break but, although it was tough at times, there were always plenty of highlights to make it worthwhile.

"Apart from stripping, the main highlights for me were when we had a real laugh, and the punch-ups of course," explains Marshall.

For Montserrat anything that got her out of CID was wonderful: "As Shaz is rarely out of the office it's great when I finally get out with Alex and the boys. That's when I get to wear the amazing Eighties clothes and get involved in a bit of the action!"

Dean has too much to choose from: "Most of the things we do are really exciting and things that you would never get to do in any other profession. We're very lucky to play the 'action man' roles – we just need to persuade Philip to let us have a go in the Quattro!"