theinspectorlynleymysteries - Nathaniel brought to tears by new mystery

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Telly talk: Nathaniel brought to tears by new mystery

HE plays an upper crust gentleman detective, skilled in displaying a traditional stiff upper lip.

But actor Nathaniel Parker doesn't mind confessing to tears when he filmed a new series of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, which returns to BBC1 at 8.30pm tonight.

The third film - A Suitable Vengeance - sees aristocratic Lynley forced to face the demons of his youth as he goes back to his ancestral home, where his father died of cancer.

Last year, Nathaniel mourned the death of his own father, former British Rail chairman Sir Peter Parker, and it was still fresh in his mind when he made this second series of dramas.

"It's a real tear-jerker. It was an emotional experience for me, so I could well understand Lynley's feelings at that time, having just lost my own father. It was a pretty traumatic storyline for me, and very close to the bone."

Reunited once again with working class sidekick Det Sgt Barbara Havers, played by Sharon Small, Det Insp Lynley starts this four-part series with the case of an arsonist who has murdered one of English cricket's most promising batsmen.

Horse racing is more to the liking of gambling man Nathaniel, who will have his eyes fixed on this week's Cheltenham Festival. But he had to remain fully focused for a series of Inspector Lynley stunts, including a high-speed boat chase.

"I loved all the stunts. You have to be very careful when you are doing them, especially when you have producers hanging on to your coat tails. I did as many stunts as I could.

"In the third film, I'm in a dinner jacket for an engagement party. Everyone said I looked just like either Bond, or the Milk Tray man, I love running around on rooftops and diving into the water. It's a boyhood dream of mine to be Bond."

Typecast

He also longs to play a baddie. "I am worried about being typecast as the good guy who always gets the girl. I'd love to play someone rough and hard as nails - someone from the East End or the north."

Plenty of female fans would be delighted if Parker became the next 007, although he's a little shy about being labelled a pin-up. "I am enormously flattered by it and I've never really got used to it. I look out there and see other actors or pop stars, and I say: `Yeah, those guys are really good looking.' I have had a few letters, but no naughty presents yet."

Co-star Sharon played bronzed holiday rep Carol alongside Michelle Collins in Sunburn, the former BBC1 series written by Cold Feet's Mike Bullen.

But she has to put up with looking dowdy and downtrodden for several months at a time while filming her Inspector Lynley role as Havers. "Looking dowdy and rough seems to get easier and easier every year," she laughs.

Thankfully, the Scottish actress enjoyed a makeover when she filmed a part in the new series of Manchester's Cutting It, playing trendy stylist Boo Wibbley, alongside Amanda Holden and Sarah Parish.

"I got to wear a really funky avant garde red wig and I had tons of make-up put on every day - that was a shock.

"I had to be in make-up for an hour and a half every morning and I couldn't get over it, because I would normally be in and out in 20 minutes on Lynley. When you spend six months filming with no make-up, you get used to it.

"Playing Boo was very different to playing Havers, who is very self-effacing and small, whereas Boo was very up front - she'd stand up there and shout."

Having featured with Hugh Grant in About A Boy, Sharon is now shooting a new film in Scotland called Natural History. And all is not lost for her Inspector Lynley character, who is set for a spot of romance. "She finally gets kissed in episode two!"

Manchester Evening News, 10 March 2003
Interviews by: Ian Wylie
Posted 23 October 2008