Really helps. There’s a lot of gloom at the moment
Jo Joyner and Mark Benton prove daytime drama packs a punch – as Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators returns for a second season.
spoke to the show’s stars
ACOSTLY dognapping, the disappearance of an Eastern European oligarch and a run in with psychic sisters : there’s plenty to look forward to from a second season of Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators.
The return of the detective drama will see Frank Hathaway, a hardboiled private investigator, and his rookie sidekick, ex-hairdresser, Lu Shakespeare (Mark Benton and Jo Joyner) uncover the secrets of rural Warwickshire’s residents once more.
And judging by the success of its predecessor, the BBC1 hit, set in Stratford-Upon-Avon, exemplifies why “light crime” is a genre worth watching.
“It’s nice seeing all the daytime stuff that’s on at the moment and thinking, ‘We have quite a nice little slot in amongst it’. There’s such a brilliant variation,” begins Jo, 41, thrilled by the series’ comeback.
“But I think the balance of the buddy friendship that these two have, rather than it all being serious murder (is what makes the show so popular),” she reasons.
“There’s a lot of doom and gloom at the moment, so that lightness really helps.”
“You get a bit of everything and, like Jo J o and Mark’s easy c h e m i st r y makes fo r enjoyable watc h i n g s said, there’s so much dark drama and heavy stuff, which is wonderful, but sometimes people want to sit down and just enjoy something,” agrees Mark, 53, of the show’s appeal.
“And the nice thing with this series is the (cases) are not all murders!” reveals The Halcyon actor.
“It’s not Midsomer Murders, it’s not the scariest place to live, so there are different ones we can do!”
“It gives it more scope for silly things as well, like the dognapping and going to extremes, I suppose,” adds Jo.
What else is to come for the undercover double act, then?
“There are doppelgangers,” Jo says. “There’s a couple who are pretending to be us, so we have to investigate ourselves, essentially, which was quite funny.”
“And there’s a good episode about larping (live action role-play),” says Mark.
“People dress up and they go to the forest and live this life like Lord of the Rings, so we have to go and investigate because this guy thinks his wife is having an affair.”
“It was Shakespeare & Hathaway do Game Of Thrones, that’s how we felt!” adds Jo, best known for her long stint as EastEnders’ Tanya Branning.
There’s also an insight into Hathaway’s past, Mark notes. “You find out why Frank left the police force,” he explains.
“It makes sense why Frank gets so much leeway with the police. It’s always nice to have another layer,” he insists.
“It’s a fun show, and people enjoy it because of that, but for us it’s nice to