(intense dramatic music) - What I think audiences will love about "Moonflower Murders" is some familiar faces returning and some new faces joining.
- Not only have you got the modern day lot, you've got these fantastic characters from the 1950s.
- So of course, we've got Lesley Manville as Susan, we've got Tim McMullan as Pünd.
Matthew Beard makes another appearance.
Claire Rushbrooke as Susan's sister.
Alexandros Logothetis as Andreas.
Could we do it without Conleth Hill as Alan Conway?
- It's lovely being back on set with everyone.
- [Anthony] And of course, there's wonderful Danny Mays playing Chubb.
- Pleasure to meet you, Miss Kate.
- I was very excited to work with Danny Mays, and obviously Tim McMullan, he plays Atticus Pünd.
Madeline is in the 50s part of the show and she is Atticus Pünd's new secretary.
- And we have a great working relationship.
She's super efficient, anticipates my every needs.
- They're kind of like this dynamic trio.
Mr. Marsh.
DS Chubb is very much a bumbling detective, but his heart's in the right place.
And then on the flip side of that, DS Locke is quite a difficult character really.
You ask any actor, do they want to play two roles instead of one, and they jump at the chance.
And that's the thing I also think attracts such heavyweight actors.
- I play Frank Parris and Oscar Berlin.
Frank is a rather mean, nasty man.
In the 50s, in the book that Alan has written, Oscar Berlin is a European film director.
He's clean shaven and has a very strange toupee.
(laughs) And a very strange accent.
If you back out now, do you have any idea?
- I just completely loved the fact that Melissa is like a 1950s movie star.
I was like, "Dreamy."
I was like, "Let me have a go at this."
- Lance was great fun to play, you know, whatever the situation is, he'll work it to his advantage.
Lawrence is a pretty straight moral character.
- So I play Pauline and Maureen.
So Pauline is a very well respected hotelier in 2015.
Maureen is a character in 1954.
She runs a hotel with her husband, Lance, but she's definitely more dodgy than Pauline.
- I'm the luckiest man in the world.
Aiden MacNeil, at the beginning of the show, is marrying into the Treherne family.
So we see the wedding speeches at the beginning of the show and then it all goes wrong after that.
And Algernon is a bit of a cad.
He's someone who's only looking out for himself.
It's so much fun to play the two roles, especially when one's a period piece, one's a modern piece.
It's been very tricky, but it's been great to see how they inform each other as well.
- The power of this show is always about how good the ensemble is, and we've been blessed with some wonderful talent.
(gentle music)
