CRIME SEEN
Author plans to make cameos in every TV adaptation of her books
Crime wri ter Val McDermid plans to make cameo appearances in every TV adaptation of her work.
The Fife author had a blink-and-you-missed-it role in the hit drama Traces, starring Lara Fraser and Martin Compston.
And she has appeared briefly in episodes of Wire In The Blood and the mini-series A Place Of Execution, which were both based on her novels.
The 65-year- old said she is following in the footsteps of her late friend, Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter.
Val, who has sold more than 16million books, said: “I think Colin appeared in every episode of Morse and a few of Lewis. “He was a great friend and I liked his cheeky
sense of humour when it came to his cameos.”
Val devised the idea for Traces, which tells the story of three women who are linked by an emotional murder mystery case while working together at the Scottish Institute of Forensic Science in Dundee.
The first episode saw Val, a former journalist, play the role of a television reporter whose news report is being watched on a computer screen by one of the lead cast.
In the background of the report, her real-life partner, St Andrews University professor Jo Sharp, can just be seen in the distance.
Val said: “I’m not planning a career move. I only had one line, so it wasn’t too hard to learn my part.
“My partner Jo had a harder job. She’s the tiny figure walking across the hill in the background.
“She had to run back up between takes.
“Martin Compston said it was just as well I was acting as a news presenter so I didn’t have to worry about falling over my feet. ThThThankfuThankfully, y, when it came to the day for f i lming, the weather was beautiful so I didn’t have to worry about getting bedraggled.
“We were up on Dundee Law with a stunning view of the silvery Tay and Fife.
“We told the producer that it was always like that in Dundee.
“The first time I did a cameo in Wire In The Blood, it was a January day with a mixture of snow, sleet and rain hammering up the Tyne. Every time there was a break in filming, the runners were there with umbrellas and duvet coats.”
While legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock may have started the trend for making cameo appearances in his own movies, other writers have followed suit.
Rebus author Ian Rankin, Stephen King, Lee Child and Twilight author Stephenie Meyer have made brief appearances on screen in TV and film adaptations of their stories, while comics legend Stan Lee also made many cameos in the blockbuster Marvel movies.
Traces originally aired on TV channel Alibi before being snapped up by the BBC, where the six-part series is currently available on iPlayer.
I’m not planning a career move – I only had one line