The talented Mr Tovey

Whether it's playing Brian Paddick in the hard-hitting Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes or portraying 90s homophobia in Plainclothes, Russell Tovey relishes the chance to tell important stories

- BY NICK REILLY

THERE'S A HAUNTING moment in new Disney drama Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes when it becomes slowly and harrowingly clear that the Metropolitan Police have, to put it bluntly, fucked up.

In the third episode, we see a bomb expert, decked out in full body armour, boarding a Northern Line train at Stockwell Tube Station to rifle through the clothing of a man shot dead by the force at point-blank range just minutes before. Through the narrow lens of a bomb helmet, we see a pair of uncertain eyes peering at the man's ID. That one piece of evidence provides the first inkling that De Menezes was not one of the men involved in the previous day's failed attacks on the capital. The bomb expert's fears are confirmed just minutes later when further tests come back entirely negative. The Met now have one hell of a problem on their hands.

This is the real-life situation that unfolds in the drama, which takes a bold and brave look at the events 20 years ago that led to the fatal shooting of the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician on that fateful morning on 22 July 2005 — and the subsequent aftermath that concluded with a divisive open verdict in December 2008.

Few real-life figures come away from the drama smelling of flowers, but a redeeming face comes in the form of Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Met Brian Paddick, who is shown as one of the few who stood up to question the official story and when exactly the team of Sir Ian Blair — the then Commissioner of the Met — realised that the wrong man had been targeted.

Paddick, who was essentially demoted to a desk job for daring to speak out, is portrayed in the show by Russell Tovey, a real-life friend of his who conveys the dogged but impressively measured approach that Paddick took in his pursuit of the truth.

“Drama has the amazing ability to connect people, and you look at shows like Mr Bates vs The Post Office and