TV cop Adrian Dunbar shares his secret passion
Recently keeping us on the edge of our seats in TV thriller Blood, actor Adrian Dunbar reveals he has another string to his bow…
He became a household name – and heartthrob for many – portraying the flawed yet likeable Superintendent Ted Hastings in the BBC’s corrupt cop drama, Line of Duty.
Then there’s his more recent portrayal of the troubled yet decent – and rather attractive – GP Jim Hogan in the second series of Blood.
However, Northern Irish actor Adrian Dunbar is, it seems, just as at home on the stage of a jazz or folk club as he is on a TV or film set. ‘Yer man’ has a fine singing voice. Think Daniel O’Donnell with a jazz-cumcountry edge.
His talents were seen by millions on Irish TV last year when he performed Louis Armstrong’s classic, It’s A Wonderful World on the Irish chat show The Late Late Show. You can see the performance on YouTube, too.
Singing has always been a passion for Adrian: “I was in bands many years ago, so that’s where it started,” he has said. “It was always something that was there. I started acting and focused on other things but I’ve always kept it going and had a band – Adie Dunbar and the Jonahs – some years ago.
“I’ve always done gigs with friends of mine, jazz in Ronnie Scott’s and things like that over the years. There
‘It’s a really enjoyable thing to do a live gig. I like music that straddles easy-listening and country-jazz’
was a time in my late 30s and 40s when things got a bit slack and you could just go back to the music. It’s a really enjoyable thing to do a live gig. I like music that straddles the easylistening, country-jazz sort of stuff.” It was rumoured that Adrian was planning gigs – including a possible reunion with Adie Dunbar and the Jonahs – and even going into the recording studio this year, but that was before Covid-19. The virus also shut down filming of the long-awaited sixth series of Line of Duty about a month into production. In the meantime, though, we’ve been able to watch Adrian’s performance in Blood – a six-part, Broadchurchesque thriller about a dysfunctional family, the Hogans, that recently screened on Channel Five. The series, which ran on consecutive nights, is still available on the channel’s my5 catch-up service – as is season one.
The story is about old secrets,
older betrayals, mind games and the lies families tell one another.
“I think we need series like Blood in these times of self-isolation,” Adrian says. “Series that exercise your mind a bit and take you to a different place. You can escape into an entirely different world.” Adrian feels that the ethereal qualities of rural Ireland, where the drama is set, is another attraction for viewers.
“The environment gives places personality – that’s why we’re fascinated by all that Scandi-noir. But it’s the family drama at the heart of it, where we’re trying to figure out a very complicated set of emotions that everyone has. In series two, we’re in the same territory, in that we are trying to work out people’s actions and motivations, but the dynamic has changed. There are other things going on within the Hogan family and new secrets being kept – we are going to have to get to the bottom of them.” Adrian’s own family life is happily much simpler than the Hogans’. He’s been married to Australian actress Anna Nygh for 34 years and they have a daughter, Madeleine, who’s 33. Since Line of Duty started, Adrian’s become a bit of a sex symbol. What does Anna think of that?
“She thinks it’s a bit of laugh. We all do. It’s just part of the fun. We didn’t expect any of that. You’ve got to be flattered – it’s great. I think women have responded so much to Ted because they all realise they could have him round their little fingers within 20 minutes.”
Like many of us, Adrian’s been busy in his garden during lockdown. “I’m lucky enough to have one and have become quite obsessive about gardening,” he says. “Cooking and food, too. ‘What will we eat tonight?’ becomes the most important question of the day. When we do start filming Line of Duty again, I may well have put on weight!”
Adrian (61) hopes that work will commence on Line of Duty sooner rather than later and also remains
‘I have become quite obsessive about gardening – cooking and food too’
positive about the fate of live theatre and performance generally.
“I’m optimistic,” he says. “They’re pretty tough, resilient people within those industries and we’re hoping the collective buzz of being in an audience is something people will really value coming out of this. But for now, it’s all just collapsed, we’re dealing with jobs that have fallen apart. I’m just hoping when we get the green light, the jobs will still be there.”
If Adrian is involved, we’re pretty sure they will be.
■ Find series one and two of Blood at www.my5.tv