As Peter Capaldi talks about his new Apple TV+<\/a> drama Criminal Record<\/a> \u2013 \u201ca stylish crime drama with a contemporary edge and a noir-ish element\u201d, to quote his own description \u2013 he makes no effort to disguise his fondness for Elaine Collins, his fellow executive producer on the eight-part series, sitting beside him.<\/p>\n Friendly, funny and stylish in equal measure, she is just as affectionate towards him\u2026 which is rather lovely, as they have been married since 1991 and have a 30-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n In 2021, he sweetly pinpointed \u201cSeptember 12th 1985, under a street lamp in Glasgow with Elaine\u201d as the greatest kiss of his life. It was their very first, soon after they met as actors in a touring theatre production.<\/p>\n They co-starred in the 1992 romantic comedy Soft Top Hard Shoulder, and teamed up again in Franz Kafka\u2019s It\u2019s a Wonderful Life, the 1995 Oscar-winning short film he wrote and directed. As Capaldi clutched his Academy Award he told Hollywood\u2019s assembled royalty: \u201cElaine Collins was the real creative dynamo behind all this.\u201d<\/p>\n Since then, she has become a powerhouse in British television, bringing Vera<\/a> to ITV and Shetland<\/a> to the BBC, long-running successes both.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Capaldi\u2019s own profile has risen ever higher, with his award-laden portrayal of The Thick of It<\/a>\u2019s fabulously foul-mouthed political enforcer Malcolm Tucker, and of course his three-year stint as the 12th incarnation of Doctor Who<\/a>. In 2022, when BAFTA Scotland gave him its Outstanding Contribution gong, he concluded his acceptance speech with a direct address to Collins.<\/p>\n \u201cMy darling wife Elaine,\u201d he said, \u201cit\u2019s your strength, kindness, wisdom and love that\u2019s enabled me to have this career. You\u2019ve always been there through all the ups and downs, and that you chose to share your life with me is the greatest luck of all.\u201d<\/p>\n And now here they are, working as executive producers together for the first time and talking to RT<\/strong>. \u201cIt was great,\u201d beams Capaldi. \u201cElaine\u2019s the boss, obviously. She\u2019s the person who really drove this show, pulled it all together and had the vision for it, while having to do the day-to-day business mechanics of keeping it rolling. I was just a sounding board.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins tuts at once, exclaiming, \u201cYou\u2019re too modest. He was fantastic. We genuinely had a great time and it was amazing to have that support system at work and at home. Of course you bring it home \u2013 you\u2019re living and breathing a show while you\u2019re making it \u2013 but that was genuinely great. He\u2019s always a support system for me. Hand on heart, we\u2019re best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Sitting listening close by, one of Criminal Record<\/a>\u2019s supporting actors, Tom Moutchi, smiles at the two of them indulgently. \u201cAwww,\u201d he teases, \u201csoooo cute.\u201d Capaldi and Collins crease up, as Capaldi agrees that \u201ccute\u201d isn\u2019t a word usually linked with him.<\/p>\n \u201cA journalist asked me the other day, \u2018Why do you scowl all the time?’\u201d he recounts. \u201cI said to him \u2018I\u2019m not!\u2019 and he said \u2018Your face is a scowl.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s cute to me,\u201d declares Collins firmly, although it must be said the role he plays in Criminal Record scores low on the cute-o-meter.<\/p>\n What the broadcaster Mariella Frostrup once described as Capaldi\u2019s \u201cgraveyard complexion\u201d is exactly right for Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty<\/a>, who\u2019s drawn into conflict with a younger detective sergeant (Cush Jumbo) over a murder conviction from a decade previously.<\/p>\n Complex and tense, Criminal Record is a long way from a cosy procedural featuring a grizzled-but-warm-hearted veteran cop. From the very start, Hegarty seems anything but benign. So having never previously played a detective, why did Capaldi want to portray this one?<\/p>\n \u201cI liked the idea of a character who is veiled,\u201d he explains. \u201cI always feel as if I\u2019m giving too much away, so a character who deliberately hides everything was very attractive. I brought lots of me to him. He has a knocked-about, been-round-the-block quality, a certain melancholy. He\u2019s like London, where the series is set \u2013 he\u2019s been through his own personal Blitz. He has scars and carries ghosts.\u201d<\/p> ![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1921086600-c602d33.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Criminal")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/criminal-record-peter-capaldi-3db7065.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Peter")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>