Duncan’s always a pleasure to play
Scottish actor Mark Bonnar seems to be on our screens a lot right now, as RACHAEL POPOW discovers
IT’S a busy week for Mark Bonnar. Not only does his darkly funny thriller Guilt come to a conclusion on BBC2 on Thursday, but he can also be seen as Duncan in the acclaimed police drama Shetland.
Luckily, there’s no chance of him getting his characters confused, as the actor reveals that Duncan has a special place in his heart.
Mark, 52, jokes: “Well Duncan just slips off the proverbial tongue!
“Duncan’s always a pleasure to play because he’s kind of quite similar to me – a bit hapless, a bit tryhard and a bit grumpy sometimes!”
He does point out that there are also some major differences between them.
He says: “I certainly haven’t woken up on a beach, I’ve never been in prison or a cell overnight. I did like to party back in the day but I think that’s about it!”
If you’re not already a regular Shetland viewer (this week is the third episode of the sixth series) that will have tipped you off that Duncan is something of a flawed character, and Mark is aware of his alter ego’s strengths and weaknesses. He says: “I think Duncan is ambitious and I think he wants to be a good father and friend – he certainly tries to be. I think he’s actually quite wise in certain areas – especially when it comes to relationships – and he’s offered some decent advice in the past to Jimmy [Perez, the detective played by Douglas Henshall]. “But his weaknesses are booze and getting involved with the wrong people either romantically or in business. “Staying on the right of the law has been a side problem. He likes excess does our Duncan – he enjoys tearing it up a little bit too much sometimes and it gets him in hot water.”
One of his past relationships has recently come back to haunt him in the form of convicted killer Donna Killick, who has returned to Shetland after being released from prison on compassionate grounds due to a terminal illness.
When Perez hears this week that
Duncan is growing closer to her, he can’t help but worry.
Mark explains: “Duncan starts to feel a sudden sense of responsibility for what went wrong with Donna [they had an affair and she murdered to stop her infidelity and pregnancy being revealed to her abusive husband].
“However, as Perez said, although she was a victim of domestic abuse, she didn’t kill her abuser, she killed a teenage girl, Lizzie Kilmuir.
“Duncan’s busy trying to excuse her for what she did or try to understand what motivated her to murder because he was close to Donna at one point.”
If that wasn’t enough for Perez to worry about, the race is also on to catch Sandy’s attacker, while a desperate Lynda Morton calls on the copper for help. Meanwhile, blood from the break-in leads Perez and co to a new suspect, but it’s a shocking confession that really brings tensions to boiling point.
Shetland is on BBC1, Wednesday at 9pm. Guilt is on BBC2 Thursday at 9pm