Peter Capaldi on Criminal Record character: "He has scars and carries ghosts"

Friendly, funny and stylish in equal measure, she is just as affectionate towards him… which is rather lovely, as they have been married since 1991 and have a 30-year-old daughter.

In 2021, he sweetly pinpointed "September 12th 1985, under a street lamp in Glasgow with Elaine" as the greatest kiss of his life. It was their very first, soon after they met as actors in a touring theatre production.

They co-starred in the 1992 romantic comedy Soft Top Hard Shoulder, and teamed up again in Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life, the 1995 Oscar-winning short film he wrote and directed. As Capaldi clutched his Academy Award he told Hollywood’s assembled royalty: “Elaine Collins was the real creative dynamo behind all this.”

Since then, she has become a powerhouse in British television, bringing Vera to ITV and Shetland to the BBC, long-running successes both.

Meanwhile, Capaldi’s own profile has risen ever higher, with his award-laden portrayal of The Thick of It’s fabulously foul-mouthed political enforcer Malcolm Tucker, and of course his three-year stint as the 12th incarnation of Doctor Who. In 2022, when BAFTA Scotland gave him its Outstanding Contribution gong, he concluded his acceptance speech with a direct address to Collins.

"My darling wife Elaine," he said, "it’s your strength, kindness, wisdom and love that’s enabled me to have this career. You’ve always been there through all the ups and downs, and that you chose to share your life with me is the greatest luck of all."

And now here they are, working as executive producers together for the first time and talking to RT. "It was great," beams Capaldi. "Elaine’s the boss, obviously. She’s the person who really drove this show, pulled it all together and had the vision for it, while having to do the day-to-day business mechanics of keeping it rolling. I was just a sounding board."

Collins tuts at once, exclaiming, "You’re too modest. He was fantastic. We genuinely had a great time and it was amazing to have that support system at work and at home. Of course you bring it home – you’re living and breathing a show while you’re making it – but that was genuinely great. He’s always a support system for me. Hand on heart, we’re best friends."

Sitting listening close by, one of Criminal Record’s supporting actors, Tom Moutchi, smiles at the two of them indulgently. "Awww," he teases, "soooo cute." Capaldi and Collins crease up, as Capaldi agrees that "cute" isn’t a word usually linked with him.

"A journalist asked me the other day, 'Why do you scowl all the time?'" he recounts. "I said to him 'I’m not!' and he said 'Your face is a scowl.'"

"He’s cute to me," declares Collins firmly, although it must be said the role he plays in Criminal Record scores low on the cute-o-meter.

What the broadcaster Mariella Frostrup once described as Capaldi’s "graveyard complexion" is exactly right for Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty, who’s drawn into conflict with a younger detective sergeant (Cush Jumbo) over a murder conviction from a decade previously.

Complex and tense, Criminal Record is a long way from a cosy procedural featuring a grizzled-but-warm-hearted veteran cop. From the very start, Hegarty seems anything but benign. So having never previously played a detective, why did Capaldi want to portray this one?

"I liked the idea of a character who is veiled," he explains. "I always feel as if I’m giving too much away, so a character who deliberately hides everything was very attractive. I brought lots of me to him. He has a knocked-about, been-round-the-block quality, a certain melancholy. He’s like London, where the series is set – he’s been through his own personal Blitz. He has scars and carries ghosts."

Born in Glasgow, 65-year-old Capaldi and Collins (who is also Scottish, from Lanarkshire), now call the UK capital home. Co-star Cush Jumbo, meanwhile, is a born-and-bred Londoner. Along with writer Paul Rutman she is also an executive producer on Criminal Record.

What did the four of them want the drama to say about London, about policing and about race? "That it’s complicated – there are issues that have to be addressed," says Capaldi carefully.

Moutchi, who moved to the city aged seven from Ivory Coast, plays Errol Mathis, the man convicted of murder following the police investigation led by Hegarty, and is glad the series offers no neatly packaged solutions to the issues raised: "It serves as a magnifying glass as opposed to a cure."

Criminal Record has turned out a game changer for 30-year-old Moutchi, who was on the brink of quitting acting when he got the role. Now he has been cast in Gladiator II, director Ridley Scott’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning film of 23 years ago, much to the unalloyed pride of Capaldi and Collins. It’s an extra reward at the end of a long road that began when Collins first pitched Criminal Record to Apple TV+ "and others".

"I sent the script out on a Friday and Apple came back very interested on the Monday, so I immediately took it off the table elsewhere," she remembers. "When Apple decide they want to work with you, you have their full attention. They’re very supportive. When they have something to say, it’s usually worth listening to because they’re smart. You’re always speaking to people directly involved with the show who run the drama, not people five layers down."

That sounds as if the same may not be true of mainstream channels? Collins is all diplomacy as she replies, "I have been lucky. But we’ve all heard stories."

Capaldi nods. "In the UK there’s a tradition of having to wait a very long time to have your script read and then get a reaction to it. Streamers are moving more quickly than the BBC or ITV."

It seems the process of conceiving the show, having it commissioned and producing it has been enjoyable and smooth all round, but Capaldi appears nervous about how viewers will react to it. "I didn’t know if I could play this part, but real growth comes from being uncomfortable. I don’t know yet if it fully worked. If people like it, it will have worked, and maybe even if they don’t like it, some bits will still have worked."

His fellow executive producer looks at him with loving pride. "I think 100 per cent it worked," she says.

The first two episodes of Criminal Record are streaming on Apple TV+ now, while future episodes will arrive weekly on Wednesdays – sign up to Apple TV+ now. 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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