Changing the script

Timothy Spall is a retired actor who turns amateur sleuth

- STEVEN PERKINS, ALISON SLADE

A reclusive actor comes out of retirement when an ambitious young detective enlists his help to solve cases in BBC1's new comedy drama Death Valley.

The six-part series stars Timothy Spall as John Chapel, erstwhile lead of the hit fictional crime drama Caesar, who has been living quietly in rural Wales since turning his back on the limelight. But his peaceful life is shattered when DS Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth) knocks on his door while making inquiries about a suspicious death nearby - and it turns out she's his biggest fan...

'For a brief moment, Janie completely forgets that she's a police officer when she sees her all-time hero in the house,' chuckles Lost Boys & Fairies star Keyworth, 34. 'When John suggests that he might be able to help her, as an actor with an emotional understanding of what drives people to do things, she's so star-struck that she agrees. Then she comes to her senses - but it's too late!'