Digging for death
The Coroner is sifting through corpses to find killers in a “quiet and peaceful” seaside village.
The Coroner
Season 1 Fridays (from 3 August) BBC First (*119) 20:00
Swapping the big city for her childhood home is probably the worst decision that coroner Jane Kennedy (Claire Goose) could make in procedural crime series The Coroner (2015-2016). “She has plans to raise her teen daughter Beth (Grace Hogg-Robinson) in the same town that she grew up in, but nothing is quite the same,” explains Claire. “The shop owners are there, the farmers are there, even her childhood sweetheart Davey Higgins (Matt Bardock) is still there. But what has changed in the town is the crime. South Hams is developing a nasty habit of unexplained murders and other crime.”
This isn’t Claire’s first police rodeo either – she played Detective Sergeant Silver in Waking The Dead (2000-2011) and Inspector Weston in The Bill (20082010) – but two-season The Coroner is definitely her favourite. “You don’t get roles for women like this – strong and bold and not apologetic for being better than men. Jane loves her job. She’s great at her job. No one can tell her what to do and that plays to her independent character. She is respected inside and outside of work.”
THE BLAME GAME
As good and well-intending as the police in South Hams are, they are no match for Jane, who honed her skills working in London. “She has come home and now she has more work than before,” says Claire. “Even a straightforward suicide isn’t what it seems [in episode 1]. She doesn’t look only at the physical evidence presented – like a body at the foot of a tower – but also at the victim’s world when they were alive. That kind of work is what helps her help the police solve the crimes. And more often than not, they had the wrong prime suspect to start with.” There is also the small matter of Davey and “will they-won’t they?”, something that Claire and Matt tease could happen. “That’s actually quite silly,” says Claire with a giggle. “He is married now and Jane is definitely not the kind of person to break up a marriage… at the moment.” Matt adds that “Davey’s marriage isn’t perfect and they know that. We don’t even see his wife onscreen… so…”
ACCURATELY CLUMSY
You would think that someone in a coroner’s profession would be 100% accurate with everything she does both at home and the office. But that’s one of Jane’s endearing qualities, reveals Claire. “She’s not perfect. She walks into doors. She bumps into people carrying coffee. She trips and falls and she’s just generally useless at life. But when she puts on her work clothes, that changes and she transforms. I do love her vulnerable, non-perfect side though. It makes her more relatable.”
The cast got hands-on training from real-life detectives and coroners, who helped them get the language and procedures correct. “There are so many protocols to remember – it’s mind-boggling that these professionals do this daily and don’t skip a beat,” says Matt with a smirk. “We have these terrific storylines – pirate heists, lifeboat tragedies, car chases… this show kicks everything I’ve done before up a gear. And then there’s the paperwork. I’d rather be in a morgue than do admin!”