5 MINUTES WITH DALGLIESH STAR CARLYSS PEER

Dalgliesh, Season 2 Now streaming on BritBox English actress CARLYSS PEER returns as Scotland Yard detective sergeant Kate Miskin, now a key member of the Special Investigation Squad under Inspector Dalgliesh (BERTIE CARVEL).

The series, based on PD James’ novels, is set in the 1970s and in season 1 Kate had a rough time during this period until Dalgliesh picked her to be on his squad.

“From those first episodes where she’s sidelined by the police force and then seeing her blossom with Dalgliesh with all of his talents. . . that’s an exciting journey,” Carlyss (28) told the Boston Herald.

“He sees her potential. She’s delighted to be working with someone who treats her with respect. It’s also nice that he doesn’t back off when other members of the service aren’t so enthusiastic about her joining them in the Met.”

It was exciting to return to the character, the actress said of season 2. “When you first approach a character, you’re trying to create lots of the backstory and the things that have already happened to them. And when you come back to the character, you’ve done that already, and you’ve actually had those experiences within the stories that the audiences have seen. And you have a whole wealth of ideas about where they’re coming from in real detail.”

Carlyss says Kate “has a belief in justice and fairness, and she’s very determined and thorough with all of the work she does”.

“She wants to be the best police officer she can be, and she believes in policing and its value, and that people should live without fear.”

This adaptation of Dalgliesh – there have been previous TV and radio series – is the first to feature Kate as a black woman, which adds another dimension to an era notorious for a police force that was known to be racist, homophobic and misogynistic.

“The 1970s was definitely a difficult time for women in the police force. And definitely for people of colour as well. It’s an exciting era to set that point in time,” Carlyss said.

Screenwriter Helen Edmundson approached the character from “a different perspective”, she added.

“That was an extra layer to the adaptations, a fresh, new, minted version of this story, but also true to the original novels as well.”