The dashing captain at the helm of fictional Type 23 HMS Suffolk is Cdr Martin Brooke, played by actor Alex Ferns who in a former life was Eastenders baddie Trevor.

Filming has begun at Portsmouth Naval Base for the new drama series Making Waves.

Alex is not the only one changing roles, for the real HMS Grafton has been transformed into the televisual HMS Suffolk to act as the centrepiece for the filming.

Name plates and funnel badges have been changed throughout the ship, and now ‘Suffolk’ proudly displays her battle honours on a specially-created board.

Attention to detail has been a priority for the Carlton TV crew that are making the new drama series. Cdr Brooke is a former Sea Harrier pilot and actor Alex was whisked down to Yeovilton to see the real thing for photos for his cabin walls.

Alongside the photos hangs a child’s painting with the crayoned warship marked with the designated pennant number of F88, in real life once carried by HMS Broadsword.

After a long deployment that lasted until the closing months of last year, HMS Grafton is providing the filming platform during her harmony period alongside her home port.

While the film crew set up bright lights and call action, the ship’s crew are still hard at work training and keeping the ship fully operational for any potential deployment at the end of June.

The costs of the changes and transformation are being carried entirely by Carlton TV, along with any running costs racked up during the programme – not inconsiderable when you consider the costs of taking a Type 23 to sea.

Viewers with Naval knowledge watching the finished series may be surprised by the eventful life of this particular frigate, but the drama series will have to live up to its name, and dramatic twists and turns will keep the TV audience hooked to their screens.

This means that dastardly deeds will be portrayed, but Carlton TV has agreed that the programme will also show how the Navy really responds to problems and sets its world in order.

Lt Cdr Kevin Fincher is the main man linking the two different worlds of TV production and the military.

He said: “One of the remits that has been given to me is to make sure that not only is it entertaining for the great British public, but it is true to the Navy and their families in the way that life is depicted.”

With the care and attention that is being lavished on this programme by Carlton TV under the lead of executive producer Ted Childs, whose impressive credentials include Morse, Soldier Soldier and Sharpe, it looks like this drama will have the status ‘not to be missed’.