Conleth Hill has teased that his character in upcoming ITV murder mystery series Holding, adapted from Graham Norton’s novel, has “none of the clichés that’s you’d expect from a leading detective” on TV.
In the new series, Hill (best known for playing Varys in Game of Thrones) plays the lead role, local police officer Sergeant PJ Collins, who lives in a sleepy town and relies on comfort food. However, his mundane routine of half-hearted police work is interrupted following the mysterious death of a long-lost local legend.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com for his extended Big RT Interview, Hill revealed that he first read Graham Norton’s novel before being offered the role of PJ, and the “anti-hero” aspect of the character appealed to him “as a reader, not not even as an actor”.
“I just love the ordinariness of the mundanity – of the non-achievement outsider aspect of him that doesn’t matter how long he’s here, [he’ll] always be an outsider,” he said.
“I just thought he was a really multi-faceted character, but none of the kind of clichés that you’d expect from a leading detective and something. So yeah, [that anti-hero aspect] did appeal to me. And I think it was developed from the novel as well… so it was just a gift.”
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Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Karen Cogan adapted the novel, with Dominic stating: “It’s so exciting to be able to bring Graham’s beautiful novel to the screen with the creative powerhouses that are Kathy Burke and Karen Cogan, with the brilliant Martina Niland producing.
“To be writing my first scripts alongside Karen and to film with Conleth and such a talented Irish cast and crew in West Cork — where my father was from and my family still are — makes this even more special.”
- Holding’s Conleth Hill: ‘This is the best role I’ve ever had – including Game of Thrones’ Varys’
Holding will begin airing on ITV on Monday 14th March at 9pm. Visit our Big RT Interview hub for more conversations with the biggest stars in TV and film, or find something to watch with our TV Guide.
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