THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS
AS AC-12 FACE THEIR TOUGHEST CHALLENGE YET, WE ASK ADRIAN DUNBAR IF THEY CAN STILL WIN THIS FIGHT…
It’s an understatement to say that the investigation into DCI Roz Huntley has not gone smoothly for AC-12, particularly when she turned things right round and put Superintendent Hastings in the frame for discriminatory conduct. The current series comes to a close this week, with the team battling to solve Tim Ifield’s murder and find out once and for all what Roz is hiding – so Inside TV grabbed Adrian Dunbar, who plays Hastings, for a quick chat to see what details he was willing to spill…
Will we see Hastings fighting for AC-12’S future in the finale?
Yes, we’re really up against it this time, and Jed [Mercurio, the writer] has really pushed the envelope. The whole thing could come crashing down around us and it gets very tense. It’s quite interesting in terms of how he manages to resolve it all – but it’s very difficult for me to say anything!
Viewers see Hastings as an icon of truth and justice – is that a lot of pressure on yours and Jed’s shoulders?
Yes, but Jed never says anybody is whiter than white. Sometimes their personal life is a bit screwed up, sometimes they’re a bit, shall we say, not entirely PC. But we all like to think there’s somebody who will ultimately come down on the side of justice and honesty.
Jed isn’t afraid to kill off important characters – does that worry you when you get a new script?
I have never been in a series before, so I have never been under the kind of fear of being killed off, and the writer suddenly deciding, ‘I’m fed up with going for a curry and a beer with Adrian, I’ve heard all his jokes now, I think I should just get rid of him’! So you do open the script every time and think, ‘Right, where are we going to go with this? Am I going to get the axe?’.
Hastings is the moral compass of the show, though – could AC-12 exist without him?
There would have to be someone else to fill that particular role if Hastings goes. Steve could be made up to be that character, or even Kate, but certainly at the moment
YOU OPEN THE SCRIPT AND THINK, ‘AM I GOING TO GET THE AXE?’”
I think it suits the fact that he’s older and a bit old-school – I think those elements fit the character. I certainly don’t want to see him being killed off, that’s for sure!
How good are you at predicting what will happen next?
Not very good at all! Bear in mind that we don’t get all six episodes at once. Thandie [Newton, who plays Roz] knew a bit more about what was happening, but us as the three regulars didn’t. We get two or three episodes at a time and we read them and we think we’re up to speed, and then Steve gets thrown over the stairwell and you end up slack-jawed! We find ourselves just as gobsmacked as the audience is when we are reading the scripts…