JERSEY boy

DAMIEN MOLONY on stepping into the shoes of top cop Jim Bergerac in a reboot of the classic whodunnit

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BERGERAC
THURSDAY, 9 PM, U&DRAMA DRAMA (BOX SET, U)

After an absence of more than 30 years, iconic crime drama Bergerac returns to our screens this week - with a new leading man! Penned by Toby Whithouse (The Red King), the much-anticipated modern reimagining for U&Drama sees Damien Molony (The Split, Unforgotten) star as Jim Bergerac, the Jersey-based detective portrayed by John Nettles in the original version on BBC1 between 1981 and 1991. But this time, instead of investigating a different mystery each episode, the charismatic cop will unravel one complex story over the course of the six-part series.

We meet Jim at a low ebb, grappling with alcoholism and grief following the recent death of his wife. When his teenage daughter, Kim (The Crow Girl's Chloé Sweetlove), moves in with her grandmother, Charlie Hungerford (My Family's Zoë Wanamaker), Jim realises that he's gone too far off the rails. So he requests to return to active duty to assist with the investigation into the murder of Cate Wakefield, the daughter-in-law of wealthy entrepreneur Arthur (After the Flood's Philip Glenister). But is Jim really ready to become entangled with such a big case? TV Times caught up with Irish actor Damien, who turns 41 on 21 February, to get clues about what to expect...

So, Damien, how does your incarnation of Jim Bergerac differ from the original?

What I think Toby Whithouse did so well is that making him a bereaved husband justifies his alcoholism. It means when we start this series, he is at rock bottom, masquerading as ‘I can function normally.’