Murder is fun:
Agatha Raisin stars Mathew Horne and Katy Wix talk about working on the quirky British crime series.
Comedy duo clued up on Agatha Raisin.
Sherlock Holmes has his Watson and Agatha Raisin has her sidekicks too as she tracks down killers in the English countryside.
The city-slicker career woman, played by Ashley Jensen, is ably assisted – and often rescued – by her cleaning lady Gemma Simpson (Katy Wix) and her assistant Roy Silver (Mathew Horne).
“Gemma’s a tough but likeable single mum,” says Welsh actor and comedian Wix, who also plays Fergie in The Windsors.
“She’s quite separate from the middle-class residents. I like the fact she’s an outsider. It makes her neutral. Plus, because she cleans their houses, she quite literally has all the dirt.”
Horne is also relishing his role, revealing he didn’t have to look far for inspiration for his character.
“I’ve met a lot of people who work in PR because of the work I’ve done,” he says.
“It’s a fickle industry and you have to have a thick skin and a strong, didactic mind, so I very much recognise that character in the various publicists I’ve met.”
Horne says Roy is Agatha’s right-hand man in both her general life and work.
“She confides in him the most of all the characters in the story and he understands that he’s her shoulder to cry on,” he says.
Horne, best known for playing Gavin in Gavin And Stacey, has also welcomed the chance to work with so many talented and funny women – which is not unexpected given it was comedian Catherine Tate who gave him his start in television.
“I’ve worked with a lot of prominent female performers, from Ruth Jones and Catherine Tate to Kylie Minogue and Alison Steadman, and I’m inspired by the qualities these women have,” he says.
“I wanted to work with Ashley. We got on really well and she’s become a good friend. Hopefully that transfers on screen.”