JAMES MURRAY

1 I’ve based my character, Chief Superintendent John Houseman, on Tony Blair. He is all about change and image, he wants to reinvent the police force in Bath and make it shiny, progressive and politically correct. DS Dodds, played by Jason Watkins, doesn’t fit that image – he’s old, white and sits behind a desk – which is why Houseman (pictured) wants to get rid of him.

2 The top you see Houseman in is designed to go underneath a bulletproof vest but he wears his as his uniform, which is a bit of a statement. It’s like a cycling top and has a superhero vibe. As for his sunglasses, they’re actually mine – I had them on in rehearsals and the director said they looked good enough to keep wearing.

3 Houseman is described in the script as ‘gym toned’ so I did have to work out a fair bit ahead

of filming. It did help though that, at home in the countryside, I chop logs and walk the dogs.

4 My wife, Sarah Parish, was in W1A with Jason Watkins so I knew him a bit already. He has a real challenge in our show in making the protagonist also Mr Invisible – he’s got to be both dull and interesting – and the way he does it sets the whole tone for the series. Some of the mannerisms he’s invented, such as the way Dodds is always scrolling to the different pages in his notebook, are sublimely funny.

5 I’d never been to Bath before filming there for this, and the whole place is spellbindingly beautiful. Sadly I’m not getting to see as much of it as the others as most of my scenes, in Houseman’s office, are shot in a studio in Bristol. But that’s good in a way I suppose as it keeps me miserable, just like my character!