Catch of the day

After years of supporting roles, actor Kerry Godliman has finally got the lead in a whodunnit series in which she plays a seafood restaurateur who turns private detective.

- RUSSELL BAILLIE

Kerry Godliman has made people laugh as a stand-up comedian and regular panel-show face on British telly. She’s also made people cry as Lisa, the late wife of Ricky Gervais’ Tony Johnson in three seasons of After Life, in which she appeared in videos from their happier days together and during her terminal illness.

Now she’s making people cheerfully puzzled as a seafood-restaurant owner turned private detective in Whitstable Pearl. The whodunnit series marks Godliman’s first lead after years of supporting roles in such shows as Gervais’ earlier Derek and last year’s cyber-espionage thriller The Undeclared War.

Set and mostly filmed in Whitstable on the Kent coast, the show is based on a series of books by Julie Wassmer. Its second six-episode season recently arrived on Anglocentric streaming platform Acorn TV.

Godliman is in the South London home she shares with actor husband Ben Abell and her two children when the Listener connects via Zoom. 

The show has its funny moments, but if people came to it knowing your stand-up history and your roles in the work you’ve done with Ricky Gervais, they might be surprised at you acting serious in this.

Maybe, although I have done a lot of TV drama, so they may not be that surprised. I’ve popped up in other things where I’m not funny. And also, of course, After Life, where I ended up having people telling me I made them cry, and I’m like, “Oh, that’s not ideal for a comedian.” So, I’m used to evoking different responses from the audience in different contexts.