Have you been watching The Syndicate, BBC1’s drama about a group of lottery winners? For me, it’s like a home video. Two of my cousins have lead roles in it and last Tuesday my soon-to-be cousin-in-law gave a lesson in what you can do with the smallest opportunity.

The Syndicate is a good old fashioned human interest story written by Kay Mellor with her trademark ear for dialogue and understanding of people. My cousin Matthew is putting on an impressive performance as a one of the winners. At first his character seemed like a gormless laddish layabout. Gradually it’s becoming clear that his plain Leeds accent conceals a subtle combination of slyness and desperation that will no doubt be explored in depth when we come to the episode that homes in on him.

His brother Anthony puts in an appearance this coming Tuesday as the son of Timothy Spall, the injured shop manager.

I’ve come to expect good acting from Matthew and Anthony since their first screen roles in Harry Potter and Emmerdale respectively. The person I knew nothing about as an actor was Anthony’s fiancée Laura Carter. She made a brief appearance in last week’s episode playing a travel agent called Chloe.

It set me thinking about the challenge of playing a minor character. When you have lots of lines, you have the opportunity to establish a rounded person, as Matthew is. With only a few moments, it takes great skill to do enough from a standing start to make your character convincing without overacting and distracting from the main characters (in this case, the brilliant Lorraine Bruce) and the point of the scene. I’m pleased to say, Laura was pitch perfect.

A similar challenge faces a small business. Even if you don’t have the marketing budget to enable you to make a big impact, you can still get noticed by doing what you do in an exemplary fashion. The difference is, you’re allowed to overact. The similarity is that, if you provide quality products at competitive prices with an excellent service, your business will stand out and, with a bit of luck, grow.

You need a lot more luck to become a star in the acting profession but, on the strength of her performance in The Syndicate, I have no doubt Laura deserves to get more work and bigger roles. Welcome to the family!

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