Line of Duty's Craig Parkinson on how new detective role differs
"He wasn't a northern bent copper, which people just expect from me..."
Craig Parkinson has already added a number of major detective roles to his résumé, in series including Line of Duty and Grace, but he is now adding one more, playing DCI Burton in new series Mrs Sidhu Investigates.
The show, which airs on Drama in the UK, is based on the popular BBC Radio 4 series of the same name and follows Meera Syal's Mrs Sidhu, a high-end caterer who makes frequent forays into sleuthing and forms an unofficial partnership with Parkinson's long-suffering divorcee DCI Burton.
RadioTimes.com caught up with Parkinson exclusively to talk about his new role, and to ask the star whether he is more wary of taking on detective roles which don't have something different about them, now that he is so well known for playing Line of Duty's Matthew Cottan and Grace's Norman Potting.
Parkinson said: "Oh, absolutely. I mean, you've got to remember, audiences aren't stupid. So if a detective [role] comes to me and I feel I've been in these shoes before, which sometimes they do come in, then I just have to say that I don't really think they’re for me."
He continued: "But there was so many layers with Burton - the fact that his personal life was so troubled, and he was at his lowest ebb, and what's he going to do to get out of it?
"It was something that I hadn't played before. And he wasn't a northern bent copper, which people just expect from me..."
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Describing DCI Burton, Parkinson called him "quite a lost and troubled man" who is "kind of at his lowest ebb" in the series.
He continued: "All he's got to cling on to is his work, but even that isn't going great. We get to find out later in the series why he got into a little bit of trouble in the past, and why he's being treated with kid gloves.
"But the one thing he is, he is very good at his job - not so good with other people. He tries his best at work, he just needs to try a little bit harder with his work colleagues and the general public, and certainly, when Mrs Sidhu comes into his life, it's not the type of energy that he needs right now."
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Parkinson previously told RadioTimes.com that he has had to turn "so many dodgy detectives down over the years, I've had to step away from that" as he was promoting his Channel 5 drama The House Across the Street.
"You're inundated with scripts, and when you're known for doing a certain type of role, you just get an inbox full of roles that are slightly inferior to what you've already played," he explained.
"And you just have to go, 'Well, I can't really do that because I've kind of done it to the best of my ability. And certainly the best of the script writer’s ability.'"
Mrs Sidhu Investigates will continue on Drama at 8pm on Wednesday 11th October 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
