{"id":18642,"date":"2022-07-17T10:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T08:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1681214"},"modified":"2022-07-17T10:08:31","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T08:08:31","slug":"murder-in-provences-roger-allam-on-ordinary-portrayal-of-romance-in-itv-series","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/murder-in-provences-roger-allam-on-ordinary-portrayal-of-romance-in-itv-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Murder in Provence\u2019s Roger Allam on \u201cordinary\u201d portrayal of romance in ITV series"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Helen Daly\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 17 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Roger Allam appears on Zoom in front of a well-stocked bookcase (as is customary following the coronavirus pandemic). He\u2019s a pleasure to talk to, effortlessly charming and ever-so insightful about his work.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re mainly talking about his role as Antoine Verlaque in BritBox export\u00a0Murder in Provence<\/a>, starting on ITV on 17th July. Allam\u2019s investigating judge likes the finer things in life, and doesn\u2019t suffer fools easily.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very droll, and he\u2019s also into his food, which I am, and he has a very nice suit,\u201d Allam recalls. \u201cAll of those sort of things make a difference when you play a character because you\u2019re attempting to walk in someone else\u2019s shoes. He comes from a very different background to my own; he comes from money, a wealthy background from which he tries to escape. He\u2019s very proud of being a judge, he\u2019s patriotic in that sense, and he takes that important position in the state very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

To put it plainly, he\u2019s quite different to the other crime solving character he plays that we\u2019re familiar with, Endeavour\u2019s Fred Thursday.<\/p>

\u201cFred comes from a very ordinary working class background, and has lived through the Second World War \u2013 he\u2019s seen the most terrible things, and done the most terrible things as well,\u201d Allan adds. \u201cHe\u2019s come from poverty, really, in the East End of London. Antoine has come from a very rich background, and also, different parts of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s exactly this difference which drew Allam to the role, saying he doesn\u2019t like to do similar projects in a row. That, plus the fact the novels were adapted by his long-term friend, Shelagh Stephenson. Oh, and filming in gorgeous Aix-en-Provence (\u201cperks of the job\u201d).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means not everything\u2019s bleak because there\u2019s always that contrast [between location and subject matter].\u201d Allam reasons. \u201cYou have a variety in the time you\u2019re watching the story unfold. Also, just because you\u2019re in this beautiful place, it doesn\u2019t mean that people don\u2019t get murdered!\u201d<\/p>\n

While there are a few murder mysteries set in beautiful locations, with Death in Paradise perhaps the most famous of them all, few explore older relationships in the same way. Antoine\u2019s love life with Marine (Nancy Carroll) isn\u2019t stereotypical, conservative, as would maybe be expected of their age. They live apart owing to their very different lifestyles, they work together seemingly peacefully, and enjoy romantic date nights. It\u2019s refreshing to see an alternative view of love.<\/p>\n

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Murder in Provence<\/span><\/figcaption> ITV\/ Monumental Television\/ BritBox<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cThis is actually quite ordinary in a lot of our lives and to be enjoyed and celebrated. It means a lot to me that we can contribute to some degree to dramatising that and making it believable and usual and a part of our lives, that we don\u2019t have to do one thing in every way,\u201d the actor continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I like that about the series, that it\u2019s got a different tone \u2013\u00a0it isn\u2019t all dark and it isn\u2019t spread over with the same feeling because people are doing dreadful things to each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I like being a part of that. And of course it means that I can play the part because I don\u2019t play younger people!\u201d<\/p>\n

In the background to Murder in Provence\u2019s release, Allam has been working on the final season of Endeavour, the Inspector Morse spin-off.<\/p>\n

It was announced back in May that the popular ITV show would be ending after nine seasons following the adventures of Fred Thursday and Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans). If he\u2019s being honest, Allam didn\u2019t think he\u2019d get that far anyway. He was initially asked for three years, but only signed up for two.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then you get into it,\u201d he admits.\u00a0\u201cIn a sense, because they cunningly didn\u2019t try and make me sign up initially for a long period of time, because it was more year by year, it was much easier to say yes. And I love the character as well!\u201d<\/p>\n

Allam has an idea on what will happen in the final season, too. \u201cWe\u2019re going to try and provide a satisfying and satisfactory emotional reason why John Thaw\u2019s Morse never mentions a man called Fred Thursday. I hope that\u2019s satisfying for fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been times in the past over a series where they seem to have gone apart and then they\u2019ve come back together again. But this, I guess, will have to be a satisfying explanation of why that finally happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another of Allam\u2019s most popular roles was Peter Mannion MP in Armando Iannucci\u2019s The Thick Of It. Though the parties were never explicitly stated on screen, it was implied that Mannion was a Tory who spent a fair chunk of time in opposition before his party won the election, and he took his place in fictional DoSAC (Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship).<\/p>\n

Where does Allam think Mannion is now? \u201cClinging on,\u201d laughs the actor. \u201cI\u2019d love it if they did more, but I don\u2019t think they will. I think, probably correctly, Armando thinks that life has moved on and that was a particular period, things go in and out of fashion. It now seems as though political satire takes place in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Murder in Provence<\/span><\/figcaption> Monumental Television\/ BritBox<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

But for now, Allam\u2019s keeping himself busy, with hopes of a play on the horizon, more Conversations from a Long Marriage, and with any luck, a return to Provence.<\/p>\n

When asked how pleased he was to see the series on ITV, Allam says: \u201cVery much so! It gives a wider exposure and encourages everyone to commission another series!\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the future of Antoine: \u201cYou just want things to develop and not stay the same. That\u2019s all, but I don\u2019t know in what way I\u2019ld like it to develop actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, Allam would \u201cdefinitely\u201d be up for more filming in Provence \u2013\u00a0wouldn\u2019t we all?<\/p>\n

Read more from\u00a0The Big RT Interview<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n