SINGAPORE — Channel 5’s newest drama Left Behind might be better known as Fiona Xie’s comeback show for now, but there are plenty of other interesting things about it. For one, it is about psychiatry, and delves into the cases handled by Xie’s doctor character. It also stars Oon Shu An, Randall Tan and Aden Tan. Oh, and it was scripted by its male lead, Jason Godfrey.

It’s the first dramatic script written by the actor, who was fascinated by abnormal psychology as a university student (besides scripts, he has also written a satirical novel drawn from his experiences as a model that is currently seeking publication). And having Xie play the female lead was both inspiring and pressurising.

“I didn’t know Fiona before this and the entire thing where she was really popular here and she left. In many ways, her real life story mirrors her character’s, and that’s not by accident. It’s because I’m not imaginative as a writer,” Godfrey chuckled. “No, but that’s something that we thought we could use ... I think it makes the character more relatable for her.” When he realised it was “her big comeback role”, he quipped: “I was like, ‘Oh, man. Maybe I should rewrite her lines!”

He added: “The first day on set when I heard Fiona and Shu An saying the lines that I’d written in a hotel room, I literally freaked out. It was nerve-wracking for me.”

Having Xie back on TV for the first time in seven years will be nostalgic for viewer — and so will seeing Randall Tan, perhaps, who appears infrequently on screen these days but is still remembered for his role in the 2003 drama Light Years. “I was a young polytechnic kid,” he chuckled, and “it’s nostalgic for me as well, to revisit (Channel 5). I remember Fiona, when I first met her, as being very, very bubbly, very full of life, very energetic. That’s always great to have in a co-star. And she’s exactly the same!”

Even though Xie might play a psychiatrist, she is probably not the first person you’d go to for advice in real life. “I do like to listen to my friends when they have problems,” she said, but “I think it’s easy to give advice when you’re not using it yourself.”

She added: “To practice what you preach — that’s the tough part. I’m the kind who’s like, ‘You shouldn’t do it’, but I’ll do it anyway.”

If she had to psychoanalyse herself, what would be her diagnosis? “I’m a complicated mess,” she giggled. “I’m an intricate knot. And I’m very naughty. Pun completely intended. I think that I think too much. And I have horrible, horrible insomnia ... A lot of people see the silly side of me but actually I’m quite introspective and dark.”

Oon, who plays a teacher and the best friend of Xie’s character, was equally astute in identifying her own issues. “Sometimes I feel like I’m a little bit neurotic. And the older I get, the more neurotic I get. I think I have a big fear of failure. I think that’s a very Singaporean thing. Like, you know, ‘Must be the best, must be on top’. I really don’t like it when I try things and I don’t get it right the first few times.”

The only perfectly-adjusted cast member seems to be Aden Tan, who plays one of Xie’s patients. He confidently proclaimed: “I have no problems. I’m just happy.” Explained the 24-year-old: “I dropped out of school at 14. I think I know that life is life and sometimes things are just like that, and I just have to accept that and be positive. I make the best of a bad situation.”

Catch Left Behind starting Aug 22 at 10pm on Mediacorp TV Channel 5. Visit our Facebook page to watch full interviews with the Left Behind cast.