Merlin's Colin Morgan says psychological thriller Dead and Buried is "entirely about the unexpected"
He plays a murderer who becomes involved with the sister of the man he killed.
"This show is entirely about the unexpected, the unpredictable," said Merlin's Colin Morgan of his latest project, Dead and Buried, a four-part psychological thriller about the relationship between a convicted killer and his victim's sister.
After Cathy (The Split's Annabel Scholey) unexpectedly comes face to face with Morgan's Michael 20 years after he killed her sibling in "brutal" fashion, she learns of the successful career and solid family unit he's built following his early release from prison – all while she was trapped in the throes of grief.
"Re-traumatised by her past, Cathy instigates a clandestine relationship with the man she despises, embarking on a campaign of harassment and deceit," reads the official synopsis.
"As Cathy’s obsession grows, dark fantasies of revenge and reality blur as she sets out on a campaign of psychological warfare to destroy Michael’s life."
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Morgan went on to say that "Michael has no idea what's coming his way", or "how to handle things when they do".
"Audiences can expect to see a man trying to keep his head above water as it gets deeper and deeper - and deeper," he added.
But despite the weighty subject matter, there is plenty of dark humour scattered throughout Dead and Buried, which is both a Northern Irish "trait" and an approach its writer, Colin Bateman (Murphy's Law, Doc Martin), is particularly well-versed in.
"A very Northern Irish (and a very Colin Bateman) trait is the ability to 'deal' with pain with humour, often on the darker side – the greater the pain, the greater the need to offset it in whatever way you can," said Morgan.
"It just so happens that Michael, and many of the characters in Dead And Buried, have dark humour as a coping mechanism."
He added: "I'm sure a psychologist could give the deep-dive on where it all stems from; all I know is that there's a lot of it in Northern Ireland, and there's a lot of it in this show, which only adds to its twisted appeal as well as its authenticity."
Alongside Morgan and Scholey, the rest of the cast includes Kerri Quinn (Hope Street), Waj Ali (Carnival Row), Owen Roe (Vikings), Niamh Walsh (The Sandman), Micheal Hanna (He'll Have to Go) and Joanne Crawford (Blue Lights).
Dead and Buried will be available to watch in full on BBC iPlayer on Monday 2nd September at 10pm and on BBC One NI at 10:40pm.
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Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
