On a pleasantly warm day in July before the hideous fug of the real heatwave descends, I\u2019m talking to Aidan Turner on some decking by a canal, in a part of east London so achingly fashionable they just assume you won\u2019t want dairy milk in your flat white. He is charm personified. It is utterly idyllic \u2013 until anyone else walks along the decking, causing a noisy and vigorous wobble. Frankly, I don\u2019t want to end up in the rather murky water \u2013 not even with Aidan Turner. Or to give the man his full title: Poldark<\/a>\u2019s Aidan Turner. But more of that later. He\u2019s very patient when the subject of Poldark crops up, incidentally, but I do get the impression he\u2019d rather be talking about something else these days.<\/p>\n There are no breeches in his new ITV drama The Suspect<\/a>, which you mustn\u2019t confuse with the recent Channel 4 crime show Suspect<\/a>. The latter starred charming Irishman James Nesbitt as a detective looking for his daughter\u2019s killer; The Suspect stars charming Irishman Aidan Turner as a clinical psychologist. Adapted from the novel by Michael Robotham, it\u2019s made by World Productions \u2013 the people behind Vigil<\/a>, Showtrial and Line of Duty<\/a> \u2013 and directed by James Strong, of Broadchurch<\/a> fame. We\u2019re clearly in safe hands, and the story is satisfyingly creepy.<\/p>\n Turner\u2019s character, Joe O\u2019Loughlin, is called in to help the police solve a murder case. So far, so run-of-the-mill. Except that Joe\u2019s just been diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease. And he may know the victim far better than he\u2019s letting on. For Turner, it was just a relief to find himself in the 21st century. \u201cA lot of the jobs [I\u2019ve had] in recent years have been either fantasy or period or not contemporary. This felt different. And pretty refreshing, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n Turner\u2019s committed fans will already be aware that his character in The Suspect has a full, bushy beard. It\u2019s all his own work: \u201cI had a beard during lockdown, and it was one of those things: do you shave it off or not? I just thought it might be interesting for the character. There\u2019s an element of mystery to this piece \u2013 tonally it\u2019s kind of eerie, and one of the lines in the show is \u2018Never trust a man with a beard.\u2019 We were talking about how people can hide behind facial hair. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to read his expressions.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed. Viewers won\u2019t know what to make of Dr O\u2019Loughlin. We know he\u2019s not telling the police the whole truth, but in the first episode he\u2019s a hero \u2013 risking his own life to rescue a suicidal patient. We also see his hand shaking. Turner did his homework on Parkinson\u2019s, a progressive disease of the nervous system the NHS says affects one in 500 people in the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cWorld Productions were very good and gave me some interesting reading material. But they also put me in touch with Drew Hallam, a young man, 39 now, the same age as me, but he was diagnosed at 35. We met up a few times and he told me it was difficult because there aren\u2019t support groups, really, for younger people. He\u2019d go to support groups, and everyone would be almost twice his age. And it was hard. Drew is a musician, a really accomplished guitarist. And that all went away quite fast. He just talked to me about the medication, how it works, mood swings, how his sleep can be disrupted. I asked him what some of the most difficult things were and he said, \u2018I couldn\u2019t trust myself to hold my kids.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Turner is fortunate to be in excellent health, but I wonder whether he\u2019s started to think about his own mortality. \u201cI suppose as much as the next person, but I turned 39 last week, so close to 40, so maybe it\u2019s becoming something that I\u2019m thinking more about. But I try not to dwell on it too much\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n At this point, and with immaculate timing, a couple of brawny men stride down the decking at pace, the structure quakes and shudders and it seems we might be contemplating our own mortality rather sooner than we might have hoped. We press on. It\u2019s a good job Turner doesn\u2019t seem to take himself or his calling all that seriously. Although he\u2019s not from a showbiz family, he was clearly blessed with the performing gene. He spent his teenage years as a competitive ballroom and Latin American dancer. This is a man who\u2019s represented his country. He\u2019s tangoed for Ireland in Singapore; he\u2019s salsa\u2019d in Prestatyn. Surely he was ribbed mercilessly as a youngster?<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of them at school didn\u2019t believe me. It was just so outlandish. They just didn\u2019t get it.\u201d So even though he acknowledges he\u2019d be walking through the school gates desperately trying to rub his fake tan off after a waltzing weekend, he got away with it. He only quit when he got to 18 and realised that dancing against polished, experienced adults wasn\u2019t much fun: \u201cYou\u2019re dancing against people who\u2019ve been doing it a lot longer. I just wasn\u2019t that good.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately for us, ballroom\u2019s loss was acting\u2019s gain. \u201cI walked by the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, and I signed myself up for evening classes, then applied for the full-time course and immediately went, \u2018Yes, this is my home. This is my tribe. I want to do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n He worked in theatre for the first four years of his career, then did an Irish TV show, The Clinic. He got his big break \u2013 and started to leave reality behind \u2013 playing the vampire John Mitchell in the hit BBC Three series Being Human. Mitchell, says Turner, was \u201ca typical vampire in the sense that he was over a hundred years old\u201d. What were his living arrangements? \u201cHe was sharing a flat with a werewolf and a ghost.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course he was. Little wonder the role of Kili the dwarf in The Hobbit<\/a> trilogy came naturally to him. For those of us who simply can\u2019t invest in gnome-based sagas and the swirling mists of mountainous fantasy worlds, it\u2019s hard to understand just how much these series mean to fans. The day after we meet, Turner is going to a fan event where he knows he\u2019ll meet people who know far more about his characters than he ever did.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to study for it, [otherwise] you look like an idiot. You get that look back from fans sometimes, when they don\u2019t quite believe that you don\u2019t know that thing, and they think you\u2019re joking. It\u2019s so much a part of their life. They do fill in the gaps for you.\u201d<\/p>\n As he\u2019s already said, he\u2019s relieved to be back in what passes for the real world in The Suspect, but is there a figure from Irish history he\u2019d like to portray? He mentions Roger Casement, the Irish nationalist who was executed during the First World War. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s really captured Casement. I think he has an interesting story. And this is getting back into Irish folklore, but C\u00fa Chulainn is a famous Irish figure. We would read these books as kids \u2013 he was very much a part of the curriculum in primary school \u2013 the stories of him and the Red Branch Knights, and I\u2019ve never seen a fictionalised version.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, I find out more about C\u00fa Chulainn. Put it this way, there\u2019s plenty of epic, bloodthirsty material and opportunities for what we might call romantic interludes, but Turner would have to pop on a tunic. I think he could probably make that work.<\/p>\n So far, I\u2019ve avoided talking about Poldark. Turner seems the most amiable man alive, but I do sense the politest of eyerolls when the subject finally comes up. Not all the novels by Winston Graham have been adapted so far. Will there be more? And could he feature? \u201cThere are some books\u2026 I need to check what books they are. I think Ross is quite a bit older\u2026 I think Jeremy, Ross\u2019s son, he\u2019s 16 or 18 or something. And I think when we left Ross, I think Jeremy might only be 10. I\u2019m not quite sure.\u201d<\/p>\n We get it. You\u2019re simply too young to play Older Ross. But do fans have to give up all hope \u2013 are there any plans, at all, for more Poldark?<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n Sorry, everyone. Still, it wouldn\u2019t be right to be in Aidan Turner\u2019s company and not mention that image. You know, the bare-chested scythe-wielding one\u2026 \u201cI do remember the day. The first thing I think of when I see the photograph is that they airbrushed out the make-up artist who was covering a tattoo. I always think of Jacquie Fowler and how she didn\u2019t make that photograph. She was right there, painting out a tattoo.\u201d<\/p>\n A tattoo of..? \u201cOh! A small, silly symbol I got on holiday about 25 years ago. It\u2019s been lasered off now.\u201d<\/p>\n Turner had the tattoo done on a lads\u2019 holiday in Tenerife. He probably had no idea at the time that this bit of youthful high spirits might, in his case, be a little career-limiting. I hope other would-be thespians learn from this. Still, he certainly looked the part in every other respect. Had he been in training?<\/p>\n \u201cI figured in my preparation that, given Ross Poldark was a very active guy, and the sort of diet he\u2019d be on, it just felt right to get myself into that. He\u2019s a farmer, he\u2019s working, he\u2019s riding a horse all the time, he\u2019s a soldier. So it made sense to be in shape, but it wasn\u2019t something I focused on. And the shot, that was a behind-the-scenes photograph. It wasn\u2019t a publicity photo.\u201d<\/p> It did, though, generate a great deal of very useful publicity. And caused a debate about objectification, which Turner reflects on still. \u201cWas it safer to make a big deal of this photograph because it was a young man? Would it have been handled the same way in the press if it was a young woman? I don\u2019t know. Possibly not. But I didn\u2019t feel objectified.\u201d<\/p>\n Rest assured, though, Turner is not perfect. He may be thoughtful and self-aware, but when I ask which TV shows he and his wife (actor Caitlin FitzGerald) are enjoying now, he positively leaps to give me this response\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know what I\u2019m watching, and I\u2019m really into it, I\u2019ve binge-watched it for the past three weeks. It\u2019s on Netflix \u2013 it\u2019s called Formula 1: Drive to Survive<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh. I must look disappointed. He laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s an in-depth look behind the scenes at F1 drivers. I\u2019ve been watching that with my wife, she\u2019s in love with it, too.\u201d He pauses. \u201cSo she tells me.\u201d<\/p>\n The Suspect began on Monday 29th August at 9pm on ITV, with episodes also available after broadcast on ITV Hub. <\/strong>Check out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p>\n Lead image credits \u2013 Photographer: Robert Wilson \/ Stylist: Kenny Ho \/ <\/em>Groomer: Bryony Blake \/ <\/em>Top by Reiss, trousers by Universal Works, sneakers by Grenson<\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Jane Garvey Published: Saturday, 03 September 2022 at 12:00 am This interview was originally published in Radio Times magazine. On a pleasantly warm day in July before the hideous fug of the real heatwave descends, I\u2019m talking to Aidan Turner on some decking by a canal, in a part of east London so achingly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":21355,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/aidan-turner-on-the-suspect-and-whether-to-expect-any-more-poldark-scaled.jpg",2560,1716,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/aidan-turner-on-the-suspect-and-whether-to-expect-any-more-poldark-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/aidan-turner-on-the-suspect-and-whether-to-expect-any-more-poldark-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/aidan-turner-on-the-suspect-and-whether-to-expect-any-more-poldark-768x515.jpg",768,515,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/aidan-turner-on-the-suspect-and-whether-to-expect-any-more-poldark-1024x687.jpg",800,537,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/aidan-turner-on-the-suspect-and-whether-to-expect-any-more-poldark-1536x1030.jpg",1536,1030,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/aidan-turner-on-the-suspect-and-whether-to-expect-any-more-poldark-2048x1373.jpg",2048,1373,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Jane Garvey Published: Saturday, 03 September 2022 at 12:00 am This interview was originally published in Radio Times magazine. On a pleasantly warm day in July before the hideous fug of the real heatwave descends, I\u2019m talking to Aidan Turner on some decking by a canal, in a part of east London so achingly…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/21354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/08\/thesuspectepisode115-fd532b6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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