"...they pitched it to me as Bergerac the dad. He's a heartbroken father who's not able to look after his daughter."
The original series of Bergerac starred John Nettles as Detective Jim Bergerac who works for the Jersey police, helping to keep the picturesque locale free of unwanted elements. It ran for nine series between 1981 and 1991 and now over 30 years since it was last on air, Bergerac is back with a darker and grittier modern re-imagining of the classic crime drama.
Being Human, Brassic and The Split favourite Damien Molony has been trusted to take on the iconic TV detective role of Jim Bergerac, and from what I've seen so far, it's perfect casting.
When we first meet him, he's a broken man, grappling with grief and alcoholism following his wife’s recent death. His mother-in-law, Charlie, played by Zoë Wanamaker, is concerned Jim isn’t putting his daughter Kim first and when a woman from a wealthy Jersey family is murdered, Jim must fight through his personal struggles to become the formidable investigator he once was.
With a troublesome convict resurfacing from his past, Bergerac is required to call on his sharp investigative instincts and past successes to navigate the intricate family dynamics, and watchful eyes of the police force, in order to solve the case.
I recently caught up with Damien Molony to discuss what it was like filming in Jersey, how his version of Jim Bergerac is different, what John Nettles said to him when they met and so much more! Here's what he had to say...
How did you feel when you discovered they were bringing Bergerac back and that you could potentially play the lead?
I spoke to Toby (Whithouse), the writer, and to Colm McCarthy, the director, and the way they described it to me, it didn't feel like a cop show. It didn't feel like a detective series. Yes, there is obviously an investigation and a crime that we investigate over six episodes, but they pitched it to me as Bergerac the dad. He's a heartbroken father who's not able to look after his daughter.
His relationship with his daughter has broken down and he uses the police investigation for two reasons. One, to distract himself from the trauma that his family has experienced. And also, to use it as a tool to show to his daughter, and to prove to his mother-in-law, that he is capable of functioning as a human being, as a father, as a professional. That he's back on the straight and narrow, and then hopefully he can convince his daughter to move back home.
Every time that you think he's making inroads at work, he'll get a phone call to say "I'm sorry, you've just missed the parent teacher meeting." Or "You were supposed to collect her and you've forgotten" because really, as well as being a detective, as well as being a dad, he's an addict. He's addicted to alcohol and he's addicted to work. The more he goes to work to fix his family life, the more he starts to forget about his family life because he's so addicted to the thrill of the chase and the job.
Would you say that's what sets it apart from the original?
I've actually only ever seen the first episode of Bergerac. I watched it before the audition and I watched it before we started shooting. To get a sense of the show.
I didn't watch any more because I didn't really want to feel any pressure about trying to copy anything that John (Nettles) did or to kind of recreate his version of Bergerac, because that was so successful and so charismatic. It ran for ten years. When does a show ever run for ten years anymore?
I knew that we were approaching Bergerac in a slightly different way, so I didn't really want to totally immerse myself in the old Bergerac.
What was it like filming in Jersey?
In the very first scene of the whole series, in John's Bergerac, he's flying on a British Airways flight and he's landing in to Jersey and there are these incredible shots of the outside, the aerial view of Jersey, and when we were flying to Jersey to start filming, I didn't think about it until I looked out the window. and on the approach I saw the exact same stuff. That was a real moment for me. I was like, I can't believe this is happening. This is amazing.
Then, actually being on the island, and meeting people who had come to watch us film, in between takes you'd chat to them and everyone had such happy memories of the last time that Bergerac was filming on the island, Whether they were supporting artists, because it seems like so many people from Jersey have played a supporting artist in the original series, or just came across John in a restaurant and they just have wonderful happy memories of that time.
Something I picked up on, is that Bergerac as a show and as a character, seems to evoke a response from people that is entirely positive. People were just so happy for me that I was getting to play this role, because of how good John was and because of how great the character is, but also because I think people, when they think of Bergerac, they're immediately transported back into their living rooms.
There's a huge nostalgia there. A positive nostalgia of the family, watching TV together, a whodunnit, on a Sunday night. Simpler television. There were only four channels. And so I think there's nothing but goodwill coming from people about the old Bergerac but also coming towards me for playing the new one.
Sounds like you loved filming in Jersey.
Oh absolutely. Jersey is so beautiful. Beautiful beaches. Amazing weather. I had no idea how close to France it was. I always thought it was much closer to the mainland UK, but it's part of the British Isles. It's half an hour in an airplane from London. We shot right across the island, in beautiful, quaint little harbours in Bouley Bay to wide open windswept beaches with huge crashing Atlantic waves in St Ouen.
And we shot those within an hour of each other because you just hop in the car and travel five minutes to the other side of the island. Whereas, if you were shooting that anywhere else, that would be an extra week. So that offered great flexibility in terms of of filming.
The various locations that we used are stunning. We filmed in Gorey Harbour, we filmed in St. Brelade's Bay which is a beautiful golden sands beach full of tourists and nice hotels and ice cream.
St Ouen is kind of dark and brooding, Bouley Bay is quaint and Gorey is magnificent with this huge castle in the background and we shot it right at the end of the pier, in this little Thai restaurant called The Tuk Tuk Cafe and I loved the look of it so much that I actually asked if there was any chance I can get a table for dinner that night. And they were like, "Oh my God, of course." It's bring your own. Delicious Thai food. And yeah, I had a fantastic time. I can't wait to go back.
I was actually there last weekend and it was as beautiful in two degrees weather as it was in the heat of the summer.
How does it feel to be playing one of telly's most iconic detectives? Did you feel pressure?
There wasn't really pressure, because I didn't want to watch too much of the original. There possibly could have been pressure because of all the things I've talked about and the fact he's so loved.
Like you said, he is an iconic British detective. But because everyone was so excited for me and excited for the return of the show, I couldn't help but kind of crest that wave a little bit and see it for all the good things that it was going to do for me and for the show and for and for fans of the original. As well as obviously wanting to bring in new generation of Bergerac fans.
How did you prepare for the role?
I read a lot about bereavement. I read a wonderful book called When Breath Becomes Air by an American neurosurgeon (Paul Kalanithi) who is diagnosed with an illness, and you go through this very short rollercoaster with him. There's such hope in the book for recovery, and very very quickly becomes bleak and. He actually doesn't finish the book. His wife and daughter finish the book.
So I wanted to get a sense of what it's like in the family unit to experience a devastating illness, and the ripple effect that has on other family members, specifically the illness section of the tragedy. And also what happens to the people left behind, because Jim and his daughter had been left behind and this central pillar of the family unit has disappeared. That was really helpful.
I spoke to people about beravement as well. One guy told me about the moment where you've had a dream about the person who's gone and you wake up and just for a very split second, everything's gonna be okay again. They're back. It's fine. And then suddenly, you remember.
I wanted to get that across in that moment where Jim wakes up in the car in the first episode. That sense of "Where am I? Oh, thank God, Oh, no."
Then I talked to a lot of people about AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and read a little bit about AA. And then I watched loads of Irish rugby dressing room team talks, because I wanted to get a sense of being a leader, a leader of a team, and a motivator.
Those scenes where Bergerac is saying, "This evidence has come in. You do that. You do that." That sense of command and holding the room.
What's his relationship like with his mother-in-law, Charlie Hungerford? And has it changed since Jim's wife died?
It's very hard to dislike Charlie Hungerford when she's played by Zoë Wanamaker and I had so much fun with her. It's actually quite difficult to rub up against each other the wrong way, because we would have such a laugh together when the cameras weren't rolling. I'm so thrilled that I got to to meet her and work with her on this show.
We spoke about their relationship before, with the director, in that when Jim's wife was alive, Jim's wife was the connecting force between Charlie and between Jim.
There was this lovely rivalry, banter, joshing, poking fun and taking the mickey out of each other and not being too precious, and now that piece is missing, you have this very abrasive relationship of two very stubborn immovable forces, who who are constantly butting heads. Going towards the same goal, repairing the family unit, but going about it in different ways.
And not being able to connect with each other. That's also the tragedy, that as well as losing a loved one, you've lost that relationship. It's spiky now and we had fun playing around with that.
You've worked with the writer, Toby Whithouse, before on your first TV job, Being Human. Did you get to sit down and plan out who Jim Bergerac was going to be?
We talked about it a little bit before, because we see each other quite regularly, so I knew Toby was working on it and then one day, it must have been last April, an email came in. It was the the first two episodes of Bergerac. I spoke to Toby the next day and that was when we discussed Bergerac at a human level. and not a professional level. That sense of trying to to earn his daughter's trust back.
So I got really excited, but I hadn't met Colm McCarthy, our director before, but obviously, I'd loved everything that he'd done. Ripper Street, Peaky Blinders, Sherlock. oh my God. So when we finally met, the conversations started to go even deeper. Colm had some wonderful ideas about the pressures on Jim. Family. Responsibility. Sobriety.
He also talked about the sun. There is an intense heat from the sun, there is a stress of that, and often we would he would flare, shine a torch in the lens while we were filming, just to give an element of flare. Just to add an extra layer of that intense heat. Also the dehydration from alcohol.. Then also he talked about the the size of the island. He was like "You've got to catch the killer before they can escape off the island."
So he had some wonderful ideas about how we could put Jim under as much pressure as possible.
A nice nod to the original is that the Triumph Roadster is back. What was it like having that car on set?
It is. Even seeing the car, was a pinch me moment because when I told friends and family that I was doing the job, honestly, the first thing they said to me was the car. The fates aligned in such a magnificent way for us to get the original car that John drove in the first series. I think we found the owner on Facebook, as part of a car club, and thank God we did.
Toby has included so many wonderful nods to the original series of Bergerac, but dotted very subtly throughout the show, which is classy.
With the car specifically, it emerges later in the series that the car is a gift from Jim's wife, when she gets sick. She wanted him to have a project for when she's gone. So that's why he sleeps in the car at nighttime. And I thought that was so lovely. That never gets said, but that was always my relationship with the car. So instead of it just being the Bergerac car, it now feels like an extra character in the show.
What were some of your most memorable moments on set?
Anything with Zoë, because we would just laugh and laugh. I had to drive her out of her character house at one point and I kind of put the pedal to the floor, and I think I gave her a bit of a fright. But she shrieked with glee. as if the two of us were tearing off into the sunset together, which was really nice! And that's good for me because I'm actually a ridiculously cautious, slow driver in real life. But obviously Jim Bergerac isn't.
I had great fun with Robert Gilbert. I thought he played that part (Barney Crozier) so brilliantly, and actually because he's so brilliant, there is a tragedy to his character that I actually found really funny while we were filming. So I found it very difficult to keep a straight face with him. He's so brilliant.
And any day really near the beach, because it meant that we could all go and get ice cream.
There's a lot of anticipation for this series. Probably more than any other first series you've starred in before. So how are you feeling that people are about to watch Bergerac?
Honestly, really excited. I'm very proud of it, which is always a good sign. One of the producers said to me as we were filming, to have news crew visit set while we're still filming, and for that news to be on BBC Breakfast of ITV breakfast, when does that ever happen to a first series?
And we spoke about it before, but I think it's because of the extraordinary goodwill towards John and towards his Bergerac, but also the show and that character. It feels like a really exciting time to introduce all that and more to a new audience.
Speaking of John, have you two connected at all?
Yeah, I had lunch with him last week. Oh my God, we had such a lovely lunch. He's seen the first episode, he said some really lovely things about us and we just talked about our memories of Jersey and our memories of the character and how we got the job. How we were both 40 when we got it.
Then at the end he said something like "Bergerac has been incredibly good to me and I hope it's as good to you." which was a really lovely thing to say.
Bergerac airs Thursdays at 9pm on U&Drama with all episodes available to stream from 27th February on U
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