Post by Lucy on Apr 5, 2010 15:56:27 GMT
Interview: Thomas Craig on Murdoch Mysteries
By Clive Morgan
Published: 1:11PM GMT 10 Feb 2009
Thomas Craig is best remembered as Tommy Harris, the Coronation Street mechanic who was killed by his daughter Katy. He now appears as Inspector Brackenreid in the Victorian crime drama Murdoch Mysteries, an police inspector who prefers an old-fashioned approach to his crime solving.
Weatherfield is a long way from Toronto. How did you make the switch?
Thomas Craig: You may not realise this but Coronation Street is massive in Canada. And I did a tour around Canada and was asked to send my showreel off for a show [Murdoch Mysteries] that was looking for a Brit. I then found out that the producer, Christina James of Shaftesbury Films, is a big Corrie fan and knew my work because Canada are about a year behind England and so I hadn’t been dead for as long and must have been in her thoughts.
What is Murdoch Mysteries?
TC: Murdoch Mysteries is based on novels by Maureen Jennings, a British writer living in Canada, and set in 19th-century Toronto. It’s about William Murdoch, who’s a forward-thinking detective in the Toronto constabulary. He’s uses the latest science, technology and forensics, such as fingerprinting. It’s kind of like a cross between a period drama and CSI. I play his boss, Chief Inspector Brackenreid.
It’s quite gory, has an edge to it and because they let a few English colloquialisms get through, I’m getting away with a lot of fruity language, which I wouldn’t in England.
What’s Inspector Brackenreid like?
TC: Brackenreid has been all over the world with the British Army. When he retired he decided to settle in Canada and joined the Canadian police force. He likes old-fashioned policing. This means that there's a clash of personalities between us: Brackenreid wants to take suspects in the back room and beat the s*** out of them, rather than use Murdoch’s cerebral approach.
He sounds like a 19th-century Gene Hunt…
TC: Not quite. But the producers were influenced by Life on Mars.
What's Murdoch's character like?
TC: Murdoch is a practicing Catholic who lost his fiancé in the first series. On top of that he gone as far as he can go in the police force because it’s in a protestant-run town.
After the death of his fiancé in the first series, what happens to Murdoch in this one?
TC: Murdoch is still mourning the death of his fiancé but is also having an on-off flirtation with a non-Catholic doctor. In this series he finds out that she’s had an abortion and being Catholic he finds it hard to reconcile with himself.
With everything that’s going on with Murdoch, why does Brackenreid let him get away with it?
TC: Murdoch doesn’t get away with anything. Brackenfield just realises that while he may not agree with Murdoch’s methods, he gets results. What's interesting is that Murdoch doesn't always catch the killer, which I quite like. The more you don't wrap things up the better it is, because that could get boring.
The series brings together fact and fiction, featuring some real-life stars from history
TC: Yes it does. We bring a lot of historical characters. We’ve had Arthur Conan Doyle, who studies how Murdoch works after killing off Sherlock Holmes. And this year we’ve had Buffalo Bill, Tesla the inventor and Harry Houdini. It’s nice that we can tap into historical characters from that period.
Brackenfield appears to have a thing for ladies of the performing arts
TC: Brackenreid does quite fancy women in the performing arts. In the first season it was an actress, and in this second season it's Annie Oakley, which is quite surprising because he's married.
Does anything happen between them?
TC: (Laughs) You’ll have to wait and see… He’s married after all. One thing that does happen is that his wife is trying to stop him from drinking and bars him from the bedroom until he proves he's off the beer.
Does it work?
TC: I start taking something called the Gold Cure, which is actually cocaine. Let's just say it explains my behaviour throughout the series.
www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4579979/Interview-Thomas-Craig-on-Murdoch-Mysteries.html
By Clive Morgan
Published: 1:11PM GMT 10 Feb 2009
Thomas Craig is best remembered as Tommy Harris, the Coronation Street mechanic who was killed by his daughter Katy. He now appears as Inspector Brackenreid in the Victorian crime drama Murdoch Mysteries, an police inspector who prefers an old-fashioned approach to his crime solving.
Weatherfield is a long way from Toronto. How did you make the switch?
Thomas Craig: You may not realise this but Coronation Street is massive in Canada. And I did a tour around Canada and was asked to send my showreel off for a show [Murdoch Mysteries] that was looking for a Brit. I then found out that the producer, Christina James of Shaftesbury Films, is a big Corrie fan and knew my work because Canada are about a year behind England and so I hadn’t been dead for as long and must have been in her thoughts.
What is Murdoch Mysteries?
TC: Murdoch Mysteries is based on novels by Maureen Jennings, a British writer living in Canada, and set in 19th-century Toronto. It’s about William Murdoch, who’s a forward-thinking detective in the Toronto constabulary. He’s uses the latest science, technology and forensics, such as fingerprinting. It’s kind of like a cross between a period drama and CSI. I play his boss, Chief Inspector Brackenreid.
It’s quite gory, has an edge to it and because they let a few English colloquialisms get through, I’m getting away with a lot of fruity language, which I wouldn’t in England.
What’s Inspector Brackenreid like?
TC: Brackenreid has been all over the world with the British Army. When he retired he decided to settle in Canada and joined the Canadian police force. He likes old-fashioned policing. This means that there's a clash of personalities between us: Brackenreid wants to take suspects in the back room and beat the s*** out of them, rather than use Murdoch’s cerebral approach.
He sounds like a 19th-century Gene Hunt…
TC: Not quite. But the producers were influenced by Life on Mars.
What's Murdoch's character like?
TC: Murdoch is a practicing Catholic who lost his fiancé in the first series. On top of that he gone as far as he can go in the police force because it’s in a protestant-run town.
After the death of his fiancé in the first series, what happens to Murdoch in this one?
TC: Murdoch is still mourning the death of his fiancé but is also having an on-off flirtation with a non-Catholic doctor. In this series he finds out that she’s had an abortion and being Catholic he finds it hard to reconcile with himself.
With everything that’s going on with Murdoch, why does Brackenreid let him get away with it?
TC: Murdoch doesn’t get away with anything. Brackenfield just realises that while he may not agree with Murdoch’s methods, he gets results. What's interesting is that Murdoch doesn't always catch the killer, which I quite like. The more you don't wrap things up the better it is, because that could get boring.
The series brings together fact and fiction, featuring some real-life stars from history
TC: Yes it does. We bring a lot of historical characters. We’ve had Arthur Conan Doyle, who studies how Murdoch works after killing off Sherlock Holmes. And this year we’ve had Buffalo Bill, Tesla the inventor and Harry Houdini. It’s nice that we can tap into historical characters from that period.
Brackenfield appears to have a thing for ladies of the performing arts
TC: Brackenreid does quite fancy women in the performing arts. In the first season it was an actress, and in this second season it's Annie Oakley, which is quite surprising because he's married.
Does anything happen between them?
TC: (Laughs) You’ll have to wait and see… He’s married after all. One thing that does happen is that his wife is trying to stop him from drinking and bars him from the bedroom until he proves he's off the beer.
Does it work?
TC: I start taking something called the Gold Cure, which is actually cocaine. Let's just say it explains my behaviour throughout the series.
www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4579979/Interview-Thomas-Craig-on-Murdoch-Mysteries.html
