DORIS Shades is a serial killer, drug dealer and diamond smuggler - she is also in her 60s.

The central character of web series Shades of Bad, Doris is dastardly in nearly every way.

"She is a psychopath," laughs 60-year-old Jean Heard, from Northwood, who plays the ageing criminal.

"Her husband cheats on her with her next door neighbour so she decides she will kill him."

Shades of Bad, written Stuart St Paul who has worked on Emmerdale, is the story of Doris, her friend Wilma, played by Lynn Beaumont from Rickmansworth, and her elderly mother-in-law played by Donna Flinn from Heronsgate.

The plotline sees Doris deviously building her empire at the cost of everyone around her, using Elsie and Wilma for her personal gain.

The second series is currently being filmed at the team's Northwood-based studio and will be delivered in weekly, three-minute episodes online, designed to meet the modern-day needs of people watching shows on their mobile devices.

When I speak to Jean, the trio are busy filming episodes 30 and 31 of series two.

“What she [Doris] does is so awful it's surreal, so it’s funny," says Jean. "The whole series is like that – it is so bad that it is hilarious, you can’t imagine anyone old behaving in that way.”

Although she admits occasionally the plot line is so outrageous they can hardly get through a take without giggling.

“We do have a laugh,” says the RADA trained actress.

She continues: “Some of the things I have to say are so horrible and nasty that sometimes it is difficult to get your lines out.

“I think it is becoming quite fashionable for ladies of a certain age to get out there and show that there is life in the old dog yet.”

And while we're on the topic of age, Jean admits it's been a bit of a learning curve getting to grips with the web-based nature of the show.

“Being old I didn’t realise that we had to do all this Twitter and Instagram," she jokes, adding "We are just trying to get in on something that doesn’t come naturally to us because we feel the web is the way forward."

After discussing the idea of a web series with her friend and colleague Lynn, 53, the pair approached Stuart with the idea. And it wasn't long before he had penned five episodes of the horrifically hilarious story.

Two series in, Shades of Bad is gaining popularity with great reviews from soap critics on both sides of the Atlantic and nearly 1,000 followers on Twitter.

Watch series one of Shades of Bad online at shadesofbad.com