‘In Ireland men always ask for a photo because their wife’s a big fan... it’s always for their wives’
Dunbar reveals growing fame ahead of crime drama debut
HE has become one of the hottest stars on TV thanks to his role as crusty Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line of Duty.
Now Adrian Dunbar is swapping his police uniform for a doctor’s stethoscope in new Virgin Media thriller Blood.
And fans will have to wait to the end of the six-part series to see if he is the good guy he so often plays – or a devious killer who has knocked off his wife.
Producers only had one man in mind when they were casting for the part of smalltown doctor Jim Hogan who might have a big secret to hide.
They went after the 60-year-old from Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, and were thrilled when he accepted.
Dunbar said: “It was lovely being offered a job like that, when they say they really want you to do this, and then I read it and it’s a real page turner.”
In the show, written by 27-year-old Sophie Petzal (Red Rock, Riviera), Dr Jim’s wife has died and his estranged and troubled daughter Cat suspects he could be responsible.
SECRET
Dunbar said: “Something in the past has clouded their relationship. There is a dark family secret there and it comes out eventually.
“Because it has been buried and because of her attitude towards me she starts to suspect that maybe I’ve killed her mother.
“By turns you think she could be right but then you wonder if she’s slightly losing the plot.
“She discovers something that makes you think, right, he obviously did it but then she finds another bit evidence that says no.
“One of the things I think is very strong about the series is that everything happens at the right time.
“When we need to be spun off in a different direction it happens. We are left hanging at the end of each episode thinking, ‘Wow, where the heck is this going next?’”
Dunbar said the intense psychological drama shows what happens in a family when communications break down.
He added: “You either come together or start to fall apart and he’s in the middle of it trying to keep it all together.
“He’s living in the grey area of life as most of us are.
“There is nothing that is either black or white so there are things he is doing that are wrong but there are a hell of lot of things he is doing that are right. Our moral judgment is wavering all the time. Is he a good guy or is he not a good guy?
“It’s got that spooky vibe about it where you are in a strange midlands village and you don’t quite know what’s going on.”
The actor said there were many parallels with his hit series Line of Duty, where he plays the head of an anti-corruption
Police officers will sometimes stop and give you the thumbs up
ADRIAN DUNBAR ON LINE OF
DUTY ROLE
unit of London’s Metropolitan Police. Dunbar said just like that show, which has just started filming its fifth series, you don’t know who to trust.
He added: “One of the reasons they asked me to do this was that the character of Ted Hastings up to now has been the bastion of morality and good sense.
“Where that goes in the new series we don’t know yet. Things could get difficult for Ted.
“There’s no doubt when they thought of Irish actors who they could get [for Blood], they probably thought I would be good because people trust the characters I play.” He said one result of starring in such a huge TV hit was that he was now far more recognised in the UK.
The amiable actor laughed when he recalled: “A woman came up to me in Tesco and said, ‘You’re not as fat as you are on the TV.’ I said, ‘That’s really nice’.
“In Dublin it’s always someone’s wife is a big fan. ‘Can I get a photo of you, my wife’s a big fan?’
“I’ve been working in the UK since 1983 and have done lots of series so I would be better known in London.
“I’ve done some really good things like Cracker and things like that but I’ve never done a returning series before so people get to know you. They feel they can say things to you.
“Cops sometimes stop and wave at you and give you the thumbs up.”
■ Blood will begin on Monday, October 8, on Virgin One at 9pm.