THE GROOM: AL LARGE

JOE ABSOLOM

How is Al feeling about the big day?

He’s over his cold feet, but he has quite a male attitude to some of the wedding plans. I fell into that a bit when it came to my own wedding because there were some things I didn’t have an opinion on, like tablecloths.

You married your long-term partner, Liz, in June, a month before filming the wedding in Doc Martin. Were the two weddings similar in any way?

One I got paid for and one I had to pay for! Our three kids were obviously at our wedding, and then they were extras for Al’s wedding four weeks later. So within four weeks they saw their father get married twice and I kept saying, ‘Maybe I’m not the best role model because they’ll have these memories of their dad getting married twice in a month!’

What’s the best thing about being in Doc Martin?

It’s eight miles from my house in Cornwall and it’s really nice to get back with everyone again. Martin Clunes, Ian Mcneice [who plays Al’s dad, Bert] and some of the producers came to my real wedding and we had quite a funny moment. In the middle of the ceremony, the registrar said, ‘If there are any producers here today, I would like to put myself forward for a part in Doc Martin as, unlike the actors in the show, I’ve got a real Cornish accent!’

Were you surprised by the reaction when you played real-life murderer Christopher Halliwell in ITV’S A Confession?

I was on a train yesterday and people came up to me and said, ‘You were horrible.’ So if people think you were horrible that’s good, you’ve done the job – not to mention that it’s real and we have to honour the fact we are pretending this nightmare, but there are people who lived it.

Now you’re filming the second series of ITV crime drama The Bay. Can you tell us about that? My character’s connected to police detective Lisa Armstrong [Morven Christie]. I’m the father of her two kids. This guy comes back into their lives and they’re not sure it if is a good thing, or what his motives are.

Has it been a deliberate change of direction for you to do The Bay and A Confession?

I would love to be able to consciously choose but I’m a jobbing actor so I do whatever comes up to pay the bills. I’ve got three kids, so that’s three pairs of shoes I’ve got to buy!