Ben Miller is set to return to our screens this weekend as the eccentric Jasper Tempest in Professor T‘s second season.
Miller stars as the titular Cambridge professor, a criminologist with OCD who in season 1 was coaxed into helping on a case by one of his former students, DS Lisa Donckers (Emma Naomi).
There are plenty more cases for him to assist on in season 2 however, and Miller teased what viewers can expect from them during an exclusive chat with RadioTimes.com.
“There are some really strange cases,” he said. “There’s a case of families, so clearly someone in the family has either euthanized or killed or murdered. You just can’t figure it out. An entire family found dead. And they’ve got to figure it out. How did this happen?”
He also revealed a few details about the premier this Friday (16th September).
“The first episode is really interesting. There’s a fire that looks accidental to begin with, but Professor T thinks that it’s either the work of an arsonist or a pyromaniac, and learning the difference between the two.
“That’s one of the things I think that the show has that no other show has, is that it’s always grounded in real criminology, it’s grounded in all of the things that the Professor talks about in his lectures. None of them are made up. This is all real criminology.”
The show was renewed after the first season proved popular with viewers, which Miller said was “very, very, very exciting” – especially the fact that they took to Professor T despite his quirks.
“A detective should have a quirk, he’s got more than the odd quirk. And he sees the world in a very different way to everyone else,” the actor added.
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Harry Potter star Frances de la Tour will also return as Professor T’s mother, Adelaide. In the last season, the show hinted at a trauma in Professor T’s past, and Miller confirmed we’ll learn more about what really happened during his childhood in this run.
“Viewers are in for a treat,” he explained. “Just like the stories in the show, which never turn out to be quite what they appear to begin with, his own story gets more intriguing the further you get into it.
“There’s a great scene in one of the later episodes where Professor T and his mother have a therapy session. I just loved doing those scenes, all the therapy scenes.”
Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.
Professor T is on ITV, Friday 16th September at 9pm. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or visit our dedicated Drama hub.
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