He seems like a nice guy, then his secrets spill out
A traveller pursued by relentless killers tries to unlock his past in new thriller starring Jamie Dornan
ABritish man loses all sense of who he is in this nail-biting thriller starring Jamie Dornan. After a muted first few minutes, action levels are rapidly dialled up when The Man, as Jamie’s character is known, finds himself pursued by a huge tanker truck, the driver seemingly determined to run him off the road.
The ensuing cat-and-mouse chase through the Australian outback ends in an explosive accident that leaves the traveller in hospital. He’s badly hurt, and with no recollection of who he is or what he’s doing there.
“The initial chase was so ambitious, but I think it definitely tells the viewer about the pace of the show and offers an exciting opening to the series,” said Jamie. “Television is so heavily saturated with expensive productions, it’s hard to stand out. You need something that pops to grab people’s attention from the off and this certainly does that.”
So the scene is set and The Man must now uncover the answers as to why he was so relentlessly hunted – a pursuit that will propel him through the vast and unforgiving outback and reveal that he may not be quite the charmer that he first appears. Jamie said: “The audience knows nothing about this
guy, except he’s probably made a few wrong turns to find himself being chased through the middle of Australia by people trying to kill him.”
The 39-year-old actor played serial killer-turned-amnesiac Paul Spector in BBC’s The Fall, so this isn’t the first time he’s dealt with a sinister storyline. The difference is that in The Fall, we knew Spector was a killer. This time, we are completely in the dark about The Man.
“It’s so exciting to watch it all be revealed and learn what’s brought him to that point in his life,” said Jamie. “He comes across as quite a nice guy initially but that makes the things you discover about him when the shadiness of his past finally catches up with him all the more shocking.” Full of brutal, alarming and sometimes funny plot twists, The Tourist is set in a world populated by quirky and enigmatic characters who punctuate the high-stakes action with refreshing comedic relief.
Also caught up in the action are rookie cop Helen Chambers, played by Danielle Macdonald, and mystery woman Luci Miller (Line Of Duty’s Shalom Brune-Franklin).
“With Helen, what you see is what you get,” said Danielle. “She’s a small-town girl who wants to be more than she is. The Man is exciting and intriguing to her.”
Shalom added: “It’s clear from the start that Luci is going to be a source of answers for The Man. She knows more than she lets on and it’s interesting to watch how she’s eager to run away from the truth while he’s trying to uncover it. It’s interesting for the viewer to try to figure out what she has to gain from lying.”
At the heart of the story is The Man’s journey of self-discovery – but it comes with a ticking time bomb as those trying to kill him pose an imminent threat.
As he uncovers the mystery of who he was, he’s also forced to ask who he is now. Can he unlock the secrets of his identity before his pursuers catch up
with him?