Holby City star Tina Hobley has revealed that she noticed a "fresh" new feel to the show when she returned from maternity leave.
The actress gave birth to her third child Orson in March but is now back on screen as Chrissie Williams on the BBC medical drama.
Speaking on This Morning about how the programme changed in her absence, Hobley explained: "It's much faster and at the moment we're going through a transitional stage because six of the cast are leaving and we're getting new cast in. So while that's happening, you're quite heavily taking the load.
"I love it - I love the familiarity of it and going back. I only had four months off, so it didn't feel that long actually. But I've gone back and it's faster and we've got a great new cast and new producers, so it's very fresh. After doing it for quite a long time, it needs to feel like that."
The 38-year-old also said that she has coped well with the challenge of balancing motherhood and her career commitments since returning to work.
She said: "It's very hard because you want both, and the balance thing can be quite tricky sometimes. But at the moment we're doing alright."