Douglas Henshall on unlikely political inspiration for Murder Is Easy role
"He is a man who has been talking sense, moral sense."
The latest Agatha Christie adaptation now airing on BBC One, Murder Is Easy, features an all-star cast including David Jonsson, Morfydd Clark and Penelope Wilton, while Shetland's Douglas Henshall takes on the role of Major Horton.
Henshall spoke recently about the inspirations behind his performance as Horton, and revealed a specific politician who he looked at as a guide for how to play him.
Henshall said: "There is a very particular kind of Englishman who is on the other end of that spectrum and you don’t see them that often.
"It’s funny, I never thought in all my years that I would ever talk positively about Michael Heseltine but, recently, he is a man who has been talking sense, moral sense and from a position of someone who was in Thatcher’s government.
"There is a little bit of me that thinks when those kinds of Englishmen stand up and talk from a moral standpoint, you can really easily get behind them."
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Henshall continued: "I think that I wanted Major Horton to be one of them in the way that, when you first see him half glaring at Fitz [Luke Fitzwilliam, Jonsson's character], your thoughts immediately go to 'Oh he’s that guy, is he?' and then you find out that’s entirely on its head, and I just loved the way that that was slowly drawn out and I wanted to try and get that across with bells on."
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The drama sees Fitzwilliam meet Miss Pinkerton (Wilton) on a train to London, when she tells him that a killer is on the loose in the sleepy English village of Wychwood under Ashe.
The villagers believe the deaths are accidents, but Miss Pinkerton knows otherwise, and when she's later found dead on her way to Scotland Yard, Fitzwilliam feels he must find the killer before they strike again.
Murder Is Easy forms packed of a stacked schedule on BBC One over the festive period, which also includes Christmas specials for Doctor Who, Call the Midwife and the start of The Tourist season 2.
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Murder is Easy is coming to BBC iPlayer from 6am on 27 December with episode one airing on BBC One later that evening and episode two the following night. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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