“This is a big departure for me and that’s quite scary”
Martin Clunes has told of the scary prospect of playing Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Doc Martin star is the big name in ITV’s new three-part drama Arthur & George, which began on Monday night.
It’s based on true events in the Edinburgh-born novelist and physician’s life, focusing on his quest to right a miscarriage of justice.
“It’s a big departure for me and that’s quite scary,” Martin told The Sunday Post.
“The fact he was a real person and is so well-known is pretty daunting. I consider myself a character actor but I haven’t done much for ages except be Doc Martin.”
Affable and self-effacing, Martin admits all the scrutiny and study of Conan Doyle makes bringing him to the screen a bit of a risk.
“There’s also an awful lot of confusion about who was the detective and who was the author.
“There’s a fair bit of muddling. I said to someone that it was about Conan Doyle and they said, ‘So is Benedict Cumberbatch in it?’
“And someone else said that it’s very timely with Sherlock currently being such a hit.
“But the fact is that Holmes has never been out of fashion, there’s scarcely a gap between productions.”
Martin was conscious of getting not just the look of the man right, but the sound too.
He worked hard at honing the Scots accent, even down to using an Edinburgh burr when speaking to his five-year-old Jack Russell, James Henry, who plays Sir Arthur’s dog in the series.
“We had various Scottish crew members and none of them complained about the accent,” laughs Martin, 53.
“I had a dialect coach, but I do know Scotland and have spent a lot of time there.
“My aunt and uncle used to live near Stirling and we used to spend all our school holidays there.
“We’re big Gleneagles fans, too, and we’re friends with the breeders of my Clydesdale horses.
“The thing was to make sure it was an east coast and not west coast accent and stop myself channelling Russ Abbott!
“There was also a YouTube clip of Conan Doyle speaking and although it was a little Anglified it’s still noticeably Edinburgh.”
The ITV drama is based on Julian Barnes’ acclaimed novel.
It’s set in 1906 as Sir Arthur and his secretary, Alfred “Woody” Wood, investigate the case of George Edalji, a young Anglo-Indian solicitor imprisoned for allegedly mutilating animals and writing obscene letters.
The case became known as the Great Wyrley Rippings and, after serving three years in jail, George was desperate to clear his name, something Conan Doyle took on.
“It also focuses on where he was in his personal life,” explained Martin.
“His first wife, Louisa Hawkins, had TB for nine years a lingering death sentence and he had an unconsummated friendship with Jean Leckie.
“When Louisa died he went into a slump. He was fed up with Sherlock Holmes and he couldn’t get any of his other books published.
“That’s what prompted him to pick up this man’s case and right the wrong. It acted as a bit of a watershed for him and he went on to marry Jean and have three children.”
Filming on Sunday mornings allowed the clock to be rolled back on London streets and clever CGI will complete the illusion.
The drama takes over the prime Monday night Broadchurch 9pm slot and Martin reckons it’s a good omen, reflecting that Men Behaving Badly took off by inheriting the Absolutely Fabulous slot.
More Conan Doyle cases could follow but for the moment Martin’s just starting work on the latest series of Doc Martin in Cornwall.
“I love Doc Martin,” he adds.
“There are amazing numbers of people who come to see us film. In fact, we’ve been warned that we’ve got a whole plane load coming from America this year. But they are pretty good and well behaved.
“It’s much nicer than filming in London where every van driver seems to want to beep their horn.”
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