Bertie Carvel is back as Dalgliesh for a third season, taking on three new cases in adaptations of PD James's novels.
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Not only is Carvel back in front of the camera, he is also stepping behind the camera for this season, directing one of the cases across two episodes.
Dalgliesh, notably, has multiple sidekicks across the series as he goes on his various investigations and, speaking ahead of the season starting, Carvel opened up with RadioTimes.com and other press about working with the different stars.
Carvel said: "They [the sidekicks] are fantastic. I would love every shoot to be with all of them. They're all great. So Alistair [Brammer]... it's quite useful to see Dalgliesh knocked off centre. And I think that's one of the things that [DS Daniel] Tarrant does to him.
"He has that great line, it's not a management style that suits everyone, which is true, and it's good for Dalgliesh and I think it's good for us as an audience.
"It's satisfying to see him challenged. It's good to see him discombobulated and Tarrant has that effect on him."
Bertie Carvel and Carlyss Peer in Dalgliesh Channel 5/Christopher Barr
He continued: "Then Sam [Swainsbury], wonderful, lovely, Sam Swainsbury. Roscoe, I feel, was like the perfect sidekick for those episodes, not least because, if I'm honest with you, a lot of my attention was on directing.
"So to have to have a sidekick who was so on it and required so little in turn from Dalgleish in terms of parenting or directing, Dalgliesh had to do very little directing of Roscoe, was oddly really helpful, given that, if I'd had to play somebody doing a lot of management, whilst also, in my other role, doing a lot of management, the wheels might have come off, so that was great."
Carvel then went on to speak about Carlyss Peer's DS Kate Miskin who has featured across all three seasons of the drama.
He said: "And then fantastic to have Carlyss [Peer] back and to kind of, I don't know whether I'm going to say complete that storyline, but definitely develop that storyline... I mean, really, she unlocks the growth that has been waiting to happen throughout these whole three seasons, and that he's moved in various different directions in terms of his secret heart, and she kind of holds the key in a funny kind of way.
"But definitely their relationship is key in him growing past... PD James had this great phrase about Dalgliesh having a sliver of ice in the heart. And I think she was talking about his ruthlessness more than anything else.
"But also, I think about that in terms of his wound and the grief, which is where we’ve started him with this series, and that actually the slow thawing of that sliver of ice is what's been happening for these three years.
"And a huge part of that, I think, is down to [DS Kate] Miskin and the not always straightforward relationship that those two enjoy. And of course, you now know he’s going to, by the end of the series, take a leap, take a risk, and open himself to potential damage again by beginning a new relationship with Emma Lavenham [Claire Goose].
"But it's because of Miskin, it's because of the learning that I think has gone there, and because, in a way, he's closed doors before, and that's not completing him. He knows that he has to kind of open it again and take a risk."
Dalgliesh season 3 starts Thursday 5th December at 9pm on Channel 5. Watch episode 2 on Friday 6th December at 9pm.
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.
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.
