From Shameless layabout to decent copper
AFTER nine years and 11 series, there’s no way David Threlfall wasn’t going to be forever associated with Shameless layabout Frank Gallagher.
But now the Manchester actor is looking to move on from the drunken rants of the perennial scrounger of the Channel 4 series that ended earlier this year.
And he’s revealed the boost he’s been given from moving on to a role that’s a huge contrast — a decent copper in new BBC One thriller What Remains.
“It was a great antidote to move on to something so completely different,” confides David.
“I couldn’t believe my luck that I landed something that was the antithesis of what I’d been doing previously.
“Having played Frank for so long it was a huge boost to my confidence.”
The tense four-part drama sees David play a just-retired detective who simply can’t let go of this final case, a woman found dead after lying undiscovered for years in a block of flats.
The focus switches between the neighbours, all suspects, and lays bare the differing lives they have behind closed doors.
“A similar case came up while we were filming,” said David.
“I think What Remains is a nice reminder that perhaps we should think about the helter-skelter way we live these days.
“A young girl came to live in this place and for two years she was dead and apparently nobody noticed.
“It’s a whodunit but it’s got a thriller quality about it.”
What Remains, BBC1, Sunday at 9pm.