Doc Martin actress Katherine Parkinson, who is best known for her role as jen in The IT Crowd, was knocked out cold in a brutal attack and rushed to hospital. Opening up this week on the How to Fail podcast with host Elizabeth Day, Katherine said she was walking home from a theatre with a co-worker.

She didn’t specify the location, just that it was a town outside London – where, at the time, Katherine could only afford “the cheapest digs”. She explained: “A guy who had previous form of doing this got into a bit of a disagreement with this colleague of mine. I said ‘leave her alone’ and he knocked me out cold and broke my nose.

“He was, I think, immediately arrested. He certainly went to prison for ABH.”

Katherine, however, said she faced “shame” after the attack, explaining: “There was a sense… I remember somebody saying to me, ‘What were you doing [out walking]? There was a sense that I had brought it on myself.”

The comedy actress, who is starring in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series, added: “I think it's good with hindsight to acknowledge it and acknowledge the legacy of something like that.

“Because what I have found is that I'm really neurotic when it comes to my daughters about walking anywhere on their own.”

She concluded: “I did have quite a serious assault that had repercussions, I'm not going to be cross with myself for being a really neurotic mum.”

Katherine said she had a “terribly messed up face” for a while after the attack, and felt judged walking around – and going on stage.

She told Elizabeth: “It was a bit embarrassing for people to see and I felt a judgment with this messed-up face from people that didn't know me, that I was a hard person that lived a hard life. And that couldn't have been further from the truth. So I think just talking about it is good.”