Eastenders and Strictly Come Dancing star Kara Tointon speaks ahead of Birmingham Gaslight show

"We're lucky then," I tell her. "You've not been asked the same question eight times."

And she laughs politely as the ice breaks. "Well, I hope you're right. I'm always a bit worried in case I'm not in my flow."

Charm, thy name is Kara.

Kara, one-time star of EastEnders, 2010 champion of Strictly Come Dancing, star of West End theatre and ITV's Maria in The Sound Of Music Live, is back on the road. The woman who habitually ranks in FHM's Sexiest Women Poll and who raises money for running half marathons for charity, will feature in Patrick Hamilton's Gaslight in 2017.

A theatrical tour starts at Birmingham's New Alexandra Theatre and Kara will play Bella, the character portrayed memorably by Oscar winner Ingrid Bergman in the classic 1944 film adaptation.

The play is a psychological thriller. While Jack Manningham, played by Rupert Young, is on the town each evening his wife Bella, played by Kara, is home alone. She can't explain the disappearance of familiar objects, the mysterious footsteps overhead or the ghostly flickering of the living room gaslight – is she losing her mind? Does the terror exist in her imagination or are dark secrets living in her home? The surprise arrival of retired Detective Rough (Keith Allen) leads to a shocking discovery that will shake her respectable Victorian marriage to its core.

Kara is thrilled to be playing the lead role. "I've been really fortunate in the last couple of years in that I've been able to mix it up with filming and theatre.

"I have done a lot of filming and so I was quite keen to get back into theatre. Some fluffy stuff was coming in but I wanted to do something a little bit gritty, then this came in. Timing wise, it worked perfectly. I wanted to take it around the country and it's a little bit different. It's not a typical whodunit.

"There's more to it. Gaslighting is when a victim is mentally manipulated. They doubt their memory and their sanity. It's just a great piece of writing. I love psychology. It's something I'm interested in. Every day, we go out of our minds and we all have an agenda and we all use certain mechanisms to manoeuvre things to suit us. But in Gaslight it crosses the line. Bella's a strong woman. She's no weakling."

Kara enjoys being able to mix theatre and filming. The development of a performance that happens before a live audience in theatre gives her a different sense of accomplishment to working more quickly with a small crew for TV.

"Working like this is my ideal scenario. There's nothing like being able to do a piece of theatre and enjoy the beginning, middle and end. You get to act in its entirety. Filming is a different medium. You start in the middle then back to the beginning so you don't get that sense of flow that you get on stage. And then there's the audience. The audience is always the last character in a play. Although you rehearse, when they come along your timing has to change. I am always intrigued that they can bring a different presence to anything you do."

Kara became a household name for her portrayal of Dawn Swann in Eastenders from 2005 to 2009. She had, however, been working for many years before. Curiously, her first TV appearance was as an extra on EastEnders in 1994, when she played a friend of Sonia Fowler.

Her career was given a major boost a year after she'd left the soap. She'd worried that she might leave the acting profession behind until Strictly provided a resurgence.

"I wouldn't say it saved my career but it did change things around. Strictly is a big Saturday night extravaganza and it's not to be taken too seriously. We're all at home eating our spag bol then we can watch someone on TV doing a crazy cha cha cha. It's light hearted and it's lovely to have a bit of light belief. I had such a great time there.

"You know, I'd been acting from the age of 11 and played a few big roles. On EastEnders, it was nice to be part of a 9-5 routine. It was a great time and I enjoyed it. As in any job you choose to do different things at different times and then you move on and progress. I just feel very fortunate being able to earn a living doing what I do. I love different roles and different characters."

While EastEnders and Gaslight focus on Kara's dramatic skills and Strictly focuses on her abilities as an all-round entertainer, her triumphant performance in The Sound of Music Live presented a different challenge. The December 2015 broadcast was on a huge scale but Kara pulled it off.

"This time last year the clock was ticking away until the evening and the scariest bit of it was that in the theatre or on TV you get the chance to iron out and rectify anything that goes wrong. On The Sound of Music, I only had one shot. I found it difficult to get my head around. It was a really incredible thing to be part of. ITV had never done anything like that. They have their live shows but to do something as a drama on that scale was incredible. There were lorries and vans outside getting ready to broadcast it and I was convinced there'd be a six-minute delay. But it was live, live, live. I enjoyed it."

Kara has a busy schedule and plenty of projects waiting in the wings. And while we're unlikely to see her back on EastEnders, she'd gladly revisit the stunning BBC documentary she made in 2010. Don't Call Me Stupid examined the impact dyslexia has on people's lives. Kara, who suffers from the condition and has a reading age of 12, humanised those who suffer and gave them a voice.

"I'm quite self critical and now I look back and wish I'd articulated things a little differently. But I learned a lot from doing the documentary, even though I knew so much about it before I started. I learned so many new techniques and ways of making life easier for myself and since then life has become easier.

"Dyslexia is something that everyone is moving forward with and I'm quite passionate about. When people say it helped them in some way, it feels great. I'm really glad I did it. I would love to do a follow up or something. Dyslexia is probably one of the nicest things to pluck out of the box of problems in life. But I was shocked at the amount of people who developed behavioural problems because they weren't getting the right support, or who went down a road that is so unnecessary. I still think the way we examine children and set exams is too one-dimensional. You can't do that. You can't assess someone's intelligence by just passing exams."

Kara will be tuned into Strictly and EastEnders over Christmas, watching to see how storylines develop and waiting to find out who wins. All the while, she'll be preparing for her visit to Birmingham for Gaslight.

"I love theatre. I've loved playing in the West End. There's a great atmosphere that comes with going into town of an evening and seeing the hustle and bustle. It's magical and that's the ultimate I suppose."

Gaslight is on at the New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham from Friday, January 6 to Saturday, January 14. For tickets costing from £18 visit www.atgtickets.com

By Andy Richardson