The grieving detective: As he brings PD James’ cerebral sleuth Dalgliesh back to TV, Bertie Carvel tells how his own tragic loss mirrored his character’s
- The late PD James wrote 14 Dalgliesh novels between 1962 and 2008
- Bertie Carvel is set to star as Inspector Adam Dalgliesh in three two-part stories
- UK-based actor relates to character grieving following the loss of his mum
When Doctor Foster’s Bertie Carvel took on the role of Inspector Adam Dalgliesh for Channel 5’s remake of the popular detective series, he connected with the character on a deeply personal level. And his link to the fictional Met detective is a heartbreaking one – the loss of a loved one.
When we meet Dalgliesh in episode one, he’s grieving for the loss of his wife and child a year earlier, and Bertie was grieving too. ‘I’m in two minds about whether to talk about this,’ he says quietly.
‘The story I was making in Dalgliesh was about a year of grief, and it intersected with my own experience in a way that was challenging. My mother died in November 2019, and it’s that and the birth of my son which followed closely that are the hinges in my life.
'I won’t be the same again in my work, so that was challenging, but it was healing and therapeutic too.’
Bertie Carvel reveals how the loss of his mother helped him relate to Inspector Adam Dalgliesh on a personal level, as he plays the detective in a Channel 5 remake of the series. Pictured: Bertie, far left, as Dalgliesh with Jeremy Irvine as DS Masterson
Bertie’s mother Patricia, a psychologist who was divorced from Bertie’s father, retired journalist John Carvel, died aged 80 after a stroke and complications from surgery. The year 2019 was life-changing for Bertie in a more auspicious way as well though.
In the January he married his girlfriend, actress Sally Scott. They’d been dating since 2009, and she played Samantha Cameron in the 2015 TV film Coalition in which Bertie appeared as Nick Clegg. Then in the spring of 2020 they welcomed their first child Ernest.
‘I know it’s a bit of a cliche that the detective has a troubled emotional hinterland,’ says Bertie.
‘But I related on a personal level to this, and that’s what’s in the background for Dalgliesh. So whatever is going on for him in the case, he’s also processing his own grief. And so his relationship to religion or belief or faith, or the lack of it, comes into sharper focus in a way that’s satisfying in some way.’
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In person Bertie, who got a first in English from the University of Sussex before going to RADA, is pensive and articulate, giving long, thought-out answers to questions. He seems perfectly cast then as Dalgliesh, the cerebral, poetry-writing detective created by the late PD James, who wrote 14 Dalgliesh novels between 1962 and 2008.
They were made into a popular ITV series starring Roy Marsden that ran from 1983 to 1998, and the character was briefly revived by the BBC with Martin Shaw in the lead role between 2003 and 2005.
Bertie plays Dalgliesh in three two-part stories, starting with an adaptation of the 1971 novel Shroud For A Nightingale, centring on the murder of a student nurse at a residential college.
He’s joined by sidekick DS Charles Masterson (Jeremy Irvine), and sparks fly as their chalk-and-cheese personalities make for a tense relationship. From the third episode they will be joined by DS Kate Miskin (Carlyss Peer).
The first episode is an adaptation of the 1971 novel Shroud For A Nightingale, centering on the murder of a student nurse at a residential college. Pictured: Alice Nokes plays Nurse Pardoe, who lived with the victim
‘Masterson is everything Dalgliesh is not,’ explains Bertie.
‘He’s hot-headed where Dalgliesh is cool, judgmental where Dalgliesh is reserved. He’s bigoted where Dalgliesh is liberal, and young where Dalgliesh is older. He’s fabulously good-looking where Dalgliesh is...’ Bertie trails off with a laugh.
‘For Dalgliesh it’s about investing in someone, a kind of parental relationship. What they have in common is intelligence. Masterson’s a good foil for Dalgliesh because he stirs the pot in a way that’s not Dalgliesh’s style. He’s the agent provocateur.’
All three dramas are set in 1975, and despite the fact Dalgliesh doesn’t sport flares or a handlebar moustache, Bertie had fun with the period detail. ‘I do get to drive an extremely nice E-Type Jaguar, so I think I definitely beat Masterson on that score,’ he says with a chuckle.
‘He’s driving some kind of Cortina! The cut of Dalgliesh’s suit wouldn’t look out of place today but his overcoat is more 50s, so he feels more of that slightly older world. Even though I don’t have long hair or dodgy teeth or a wooden leg, which I often do, it’s still fun to make tiny adjustments that give you a sense of character.’
It’s six years now since Bertie shot to fame in Doctor Foster, playing treacherous husband Simon opposite Suranne Jones.
He’s become well-known for playing ‘out-there’ characters – last year he was a menacing presence as Bob in The Sister, and creepy poisoner Zachariah Osbourne in the Agatha Christie adaptation The Pale Horse. He also won Olivier Awards in 2012 and 2018, for playing Miss Trunchbull in Matilda and Rupert Murdoch in Ink.
He’s the first to admit he likes to hide behind his make-up, and that playing a role like Dalgliesh – a character with no outward contrivances – was a challenge.
‘Clearly the success of Doctor Foster has been a huge game-changer for me, and I’m really proud of that,’ he says.
‘I’ve come to think of myself as a character actor. What we mean by that is sort of painting in slightly brighter colours, playing people who are not the kind of straight, strong, silent types, which Dalgliesh is. The truth is I certainly find if you put on a mask, you often have access to the truth and so that’s why I enjoy those characters.’
But now he’s getting to hold the stage as the strong, silent detective. ‘It’s interesting to me, at this point in my life, to put on a bit less,’ he muses.
‘I definitely find it less comfortable but quite rewarding to not have all that stuff to hide behind. And this is one of those roles.’
Dalgliesh starts on Thursday at 9pm on Channel 5.
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