Craig Parkinson Talks About Grace Series Three

A Northern Soul

Grace, adapting Peter James’ successful series of books with John Simm, just returned for a third series and here’s Craig Parkinson who plays DS Norman Potting about the new run…

Does it feel good to be back again on the Grace team?

It’s always good to be back on the Grace team. That’s the thing about any acting job. You forge relationships very quickly and some of them stick and stay with you for a long time. Obviously, the Line of Duty gang was a huge family, but this has become family. John and I have been good friends from Lancashire for many years, but I didn’t know Laura, Richie or Brad and Laura has quickly become the annoying sister I didn’t realise I wanted. We really are the great dysfunctional family.

It feels like Peter James and the writers are enjoying giving Norman more to do both inside and outside of work. Do you spend much time with them?

With the writers, no, because they are far too busy squirrelled away adapting Peter’s fantastic novels. Occasionally I’ll get messages from Peter. The last message he gave me was about the new book, Picture You Dead, which was released late last year. He said, ‘By the time you get to the end of this you are really going to hate me for what I put Norman through.’ And yeah, he’s kind of right but I love the way the writers are fleshing out Norman now. What they’ve done is they’ve really updated him for the modern audience. In some respects, he is a bit of the comic relief to all the darkness. He’s quite glib. Even though sometimes he doesn’t quite follow the line of complete professionalism he really hits the nail on the head. ‘Well, you’re thinking it, mate, but I’m saying it.’ Even if we don’t want to agree with him it’s usually in the forefront of our minds.

In what ways has Norman been fleshed out from his original incarnation?

What’s really nice is to get glimpses of his private life and his past. That’s what helps me as an actor to flesh him out because it’s about building from the inside out. It’s all about emotions. He’s not somebody who lets his guard down with everybody. Certainly, he has made his fair share of mistakes in the past, but it just informs the character for me as an actor. It’s quite the joy to play, if I’m honest. It’s been one of my favourite characters from over the past 10 years. I love him to bits.

Having made such an impression as DI Dot Cottan in Line of Duty is it fun to play with the perceptions of what Norman might be capable of?

I was very wary of stepping into the shoes of another detective but when the character and script came along for Grace something just connected with me. I think it was the fact that, yes, he’s a policeman but he’s a little bit like some glib, Northern nightclub entertainer sometimes. A working men’s stand-up comedian who is slightly offensive and a little bit misogynistic. That’s a lot of fun to play. Inevitably in this business they want to put you in a certain type of box. It’s our job constantly, even now after 26 years, to break out and go, ‘You do know that I started out doing comedy actually?’ I never really wanted to do all these dark roles. Suddenly, you’re just playing psychopaths and crooked coppers. I turned a lot of scripts down and certainly a lot of meetings down to play detectives after Dot but when Norman came along it just seemed the perfect fit. There was something more to him that wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill copper. I think whatever he did as a job he would do really well. He’s not ambitious in any way but he is reliable. He gets the job done albeit he may offend certain people and push the boundaries to what is professional. That is ever so enjoyable as an actor and hopefully it’s enjoyable for an audience. Seeing all these amazing characters that Peter created lifted from his books to the screen.

What does Norman think of ACC Cassian Pewe? The team have a bit of previous with him, don’t they?

(laughs) You’re going to see exactly what he thinks of Cassian Pewe. What I loved about the incredible scenes that I’ve got with him is that it could only be Norman pushing this. He takes it as far as he can. At some points you have to question if he’s being downright offensive, but you can’t put your finger on exactly what he’s meaning. He has to play the smug card with Cassian Pewe. Hopefully that is going to be a lot of fun to see.

You and Laura Elphinstone have some great scenes putting Save Me’s Thomas Coombs through the ringer as a sleazy mini cab driver and ghost train ghoul in Dead Like You. Fun to play?

That was incredible. I’ve known Tommy Coombs for a long time. I think he’s an astonishing actor. We were so thrilled when he said yes to coming to play this part. What he’s done is heart-breaking and chilling at the same time. Talk about Norman pushing the boundaries of what is professional with certain stuff on the edge of that pier with Laura and Tommy Coombs that I don’t think your regular policeman would be able to do. Hopefully Norman’s line, ‘I’m the Batman of Brighton’ is going to be one of those iconic lines.

Could Norman learn from DS Bella Moy’s more sympathetic interviewing techniques? Or are they the perfect good cop/bad cop combination?

They really are the proper Yin and Yang, aren’t they? Look, Norman could learn from everybody, but he just won’t because he is long in the

tooth, he’s stubborn and he knows how to get the job done. If he’s going to get a caution or any sort of notices or be put on probation, he’ll

go through it. He’ll take whatever punishment as long as he can get the job done his way.

You talk on your Two Shot podcast with John Simm about loving it when you have a shorthand with a director. Has that happened this series?

We are so lucky because the Grace stories are like shooting a feature. You get a great, beautiful injection of energy every time you have a new director. It’s a lovely thing to get a whole new guest cast in, possibly a new first assistant director, definitely a new director of photography and we’ve been so lucky with the brilliant directors that we’ve had. The DoPs have made it look so cinematic. They make Brighton look gorgeous, but they also don’t shy away from the dark underbelly of the seaside town, which is what brings the drama and lifts it. We’re lucky to have Brighton as the backdrop and of course Peter James’ fantastic source novels.

Norman has got plenty of running to do this season chasing after suspects. Do you do any extra physical prep for these shoots?

Luckily this is where me and Norman differ. Norman is quite out of shape for a tall, slim man. Myself, a super-fit guy, five times at the gym every week so I just put on being unfit. If you see me huffing and puffing onscreen that is definitely the character and not Craig Parkinson the actor.

There is a lovely character detail that Norman has a penchant for bespoke tailoring. Did that come from you?

No, that all gets pieced together and we understand why he’s like that. Norman doesn’t have family, doesn’t have children. Yes, he’s got a couple of ex-wives in his locker, but he tends to go home and doesn’t really cook. He has the same things to eat most nights, possibly a bottle of wine at weekends. Therefore, that’s why he can spend his money on looking and feeling a little bit better. Let’s face it, Richie Campbell gets all the best suits in the show.

Which of the three stories has particularly chimed with you this series?

I’ve got to admit I love the build to the first one regarding Norman and Bella. Their work in the station and when they have clocked off as well. Talk about a shorthand that we have as actors working together, I think that their characters are starting to get a shorthand in how the other works. Hopefully she won’t be rolling her eyes at Norman too much in the future.

What memorable nights out have you had with cast and crew this series?

Beautiful Laura Elphinstone had her 40th so we all just went for a very civilised vegetarian meal. I wish I could give you some salacious gossip but sadly it’s all very subdued. We’re all vintage now. To be honest the workload is quite intense, so we very rarely get to all hang out together, especially in the later films because it’s mainly John and Richie on a case and me and Laura on another. Sometimes we wouldn’t all see each other until we had a solid block of 10 days or two weeks when we were all in CID. That was when we tend to have a lot of fun, sometimes too much fun where certain things can go wrong. Doors open the wrong way or there was the one time I was given the wrong cue, so I was walking in the middle of a speech that John was doing. That was horrendous.

What do you hope we dig more into with Norman as the series progress?

I suppose what I would really like Norman to find is some happiness, not that he’s unhappy. He’s just a little bit set in his ways and it’s not at the forefront of his mind to find that. But for now we’ll just carry on with him being slightly offensive to most people.