Alex Kingston and Reece Shearsmith play the unlikely detective duo in Chasing Shadows.
A new four-part drama about a police missing persons unit that hunts serial killers kicks off this week.
Criminologists reckoned there could be as many as 15 serial killers at large in the UK.
But just as disturbing for Alex Kingston, star of the new ITV drama Chasing Shadows, is the fact that of the 250,000-plus people that go missing here each year 5% are never found.
“It’s truly shocking,” says former ER star Alex, who lives in America.
“I’ve been more aware of missing people in the US because they have all those notices on the milk cartons there.
“There’s nothing really comparable here and perhaps there should be. I don’t think many realise about the different groups of people who go missing and their various vulnerabilities.”
Alex plays Ruth Hattersley, an analyst from the Missing Person’s Bureau who is seconded to the new police unit.
Chatty, outgoing and a real people person, Ruth is the polar opposite of the main cop in the unit, Reece Shearsmith’s DS Sean Stone.
He’s a misfit, brilliant at what he does but with a lack of people skills through his autism.
“The new department has been set up because the police can’t handle Sean any more yet they realise he’s valuable,” says Alex.
“At first Ruth is bemused and frustrated by him but she’s not going to give up because she recognises he sees things other people miss.
“I like the fact that Ruth is a civil servant and not a detective, yet she’s working within that detective world.”
Ruth’s naivety gets her into tricky situations, including being in peril in a rundown shopping centre.
“The place we filmed at has been closed since 2008 with the shops all empty, some with broken glass and the escalators still,” she reveals.
“It was very atmospheric and it felt like a zombie might come round the corner at any time!”
As part of trying to help him overcome his issues, Ruth takes a very reluctant Sean on a bus.
But Alex admits that, having also starred in the likes of Doctor Who and Marchlands, when she does it for real she doesn’t go unnoticed.
“I go on buses and the Tube and I get recognised a lot,” she adds.
“I’m aware of people looking and then looking me up on their phone. I’ve always associated it with my hair. If I want to go incognito I’ll put it in braids or put a hat on. But I’m always flummoxed that people still recognise me.”
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