Nicola Walker  ::  Shaun Dingwall

Robson Green as DI Dave Creegan

Robson Green believes a good runner beats a good fighter, and he would reject any script which displayed violence graphically on screen. "Touching Evil is different to any other crime drama because everything is left to the viewers' imaginations, which is essentially more horrific than if you see it," says Robson, who plays Detective Inspector Dave Creegan of the elite crime squad, the Organised and Serial Crime Unit. "If there had been scenes in Touching Evil where you see people being stabbed, or you see my character killing people I would not have made the series.

"There is not an aggressive streak in me. I wouldn't get involved in a situation where violence is involved. It takes more of a man to walk away from a situation. I was brought up to believe that a good runner beats a good fighter. My dad was a tough man in our village, he was a very good wrestler. He taught my brother and I how to look after ourselves with different moves, but only as defence. I think it is better to be loved than feared."

Playing DI Creegan in the first series of Touching Evil, screened last year, marked a major change in the roles Robson had been playing. The character's cruel scar on the forehead and furrowed brow replaced the trademark cheeky grin which made Robson so popular with audiences for his roles in Soldier Soldier, Reckless and Casualty. "Touching Evil gave me the chance to get away from the clown image audiences associated me with. If you are seen as a comic, people expect you to be funny. But if a comedian doesn't break the mould of trying to be funny all the time, then the horizons become very bleak," says Robson.
 

"Creegan is not at all conventional. He is an honest cop, who lives for justice. He had a near death experience which made him alter his outlook on life. In this second series Creegan is more at ease with his fellow officers, so it is not so much one guy pulling the show. But he does have to start making decisions about the way he leads his life."

The series attracted a good response from men as well as women. "The reaction I got from Touching Evil was the most positive I have ever had. I've always believed that a good story will hold anybody, no matter what their sex. Men watched it because it was good story telling, I hope women don't watch a programme just because I am in it. For me the real critics are my dad and the friends who drink with me in the local pub. They told me it made them think. It is a drama which makes you debate in your own mind the whole issue of retribution."

Robson admits that the grisly subject matter of the series can be depressing. "It is depressing to think that there are people who only feel a sense of power by murdering, and the worst thing is that even now somebody is contemplating murder. But what I did learn from making these two series is that the people we are dealing with in these stories are not just nutters, but they have been through terrible trauma."

Robson said he sought help from his wife Ali, an occupational therapist, in understanding one storyline, about a man, suffering post traumatic stress disorder after working in Bosnia. "I talked with Ali about trauma, and people who have suffered it. She found me a book about counselling, and how to deal with people who have gone through trauma, read the scripts with me, and helped me with some of Creegan's lines." Robson recalls meeting a man when he was making Soldier Soldier, who had witnessed terrible atrocities in Bosnia. "It is interesting to speak to people who have seen terrible things, you can see it in their eyes, something has died. I met one soldier who went to Bosnia. Before he went that man was a real cocky, jack-the-lad type, I saw him six months after he got back and it had completely silenced him."

In the new series Robson's character faces a personal crisis. The lives of his ex-wife and two little girls are threatened by a man who blames Creegan for the murder of his daughter. "Creegan realises that because of his work not only is he a target, but everyone associated with him is a target. He has to decide between the job and his family." But there is also passion in the new series for Creegan - with a pretty young mum, played by Jill Halfpenny, who is accused of abducting a child. "There aren't any steamy scenes, and no nudity. But there's some passion before something terrible happens," Robson explains.

Born in Dudley, Northumberland, Robson began work as a draughtsman at the shipbuilders, Swan Hunters. But after three years he decided to pursue his real dream of acting, and began training at the Live Theatre in Newcastle. His television break came when he was cast as hospital porter Jimmy in Casualty. Robson went on to win viewers' hearts, as Dave Tucker in Soldier, Soldier, where he forged the firm friendship with Jerome Flynn, which led to their successful singing partnership, and three number one hits. And he won an army of female fans as heart throb Owen Springer in Reckless.

After the first series of Touching Evil, Robson starred as a bodyguard in the BBC drama, The Student Prince. He returned to the role of Owen Springer for a special film sequel to Reckless, to be shown an ITV later this year. Robson's other television credits include The Gambling Man, Hands, Voices of War, A Night on the Tyne, and Ain't Misbehavin'.

Two years ago he formed his own production company, Coastal Productions with business partner Sandra Jobling. The company has secured a deal with ITV to make 32 hours of drama. The first project, Grafters, starring Robson with Stephen Tompkinson as Geordie brothers setting up a decorating business in London, starts in production this Spring. The company is also establishing a youth theatre to encourage talented youngsters in the North East to enter the business. Robson says his plan is to become more involved with projects behind the camera with his company. "I will probably do another two years of acting, then slow down a bit. I love acting, but I want to do something else. Establishing Coastal Productions was my dream; to have not only a production company, but a youth theatre to recreate for young people in the North East the opportunities I had which helped me to get into the business."

 

Nicola Walker as DI Susan Taylor

Nicola Walker's hands were shaking as she gripped the pistol, and aimed the weapon at a target on the police firing range. She was still shaking at home several hours later. "I don't like guns. But I thought if I have to hold one for this series I should look as if I know what I am doing," Nicola explains. "So I spent a day with the Metropolitan Police Firearms training unit, who took me onto their firing range and gave me a gun loaded with live ammunition. I was incredibly scared. But the officers said it was good that I was frightened, if I hadn't been there would have been something wrong with me. And they would not have taken me on the firing range if I had not shown a healthy level of fear of what was about to happen.

"I thought once I had fired the first shot I would stop shaking, but the shaking continued for hours afterwards, even after I got home." Nicola says she had "beginners luck" at hitting the target. But when it came to standing in the correct position with a gun trained on a "suspect" she was less fortunate. "I had twelve attempts at it, and finally asked the sergeant to show me, and I would mimic him. The scene I was practising for lasts just seconds on screen, and I was playing to a bale of hay, which was supposed to be Tony Curran." Obviously they were worried about Taylor's aim!

The part of the high flying young detective, one of the few female officers in this elite crime squad, was Nicola's first major role in a television drama series. Taylor is extremely ambitious, and dedicated to her profession. But in the new series we see the cool professional image slip when DI Taylor faces a personal dilemma and emotional upset. "This series shows there is a heavy price to pay emotionally and professionally for everyone, not just the officers in the Organised And Serial Crime Unit," says Nicola. "Taylor makes a big mistake in getting involved with a crime reporter, which puts her life in jeopardy. But she could never have known she was making a mistake with this man. She compromises herself by not telling the complete truth about this affair to her colleagues, because she wants to hold onto the belief that she can have a normal personal life as well as a working life."

The story of the affair includes a passionate encounter for Nicola, and her co-star James Nesbitt. "The love scene was extremely tastefully done. You don't see a huge amount, James' legs are the most amount of bare flesh you see. But you get the impression of what is going on. The whole scene was choreographed, so it took away the embarrassment." There was one heart-stopping moment during the scene - when the very expensive designer skirt Nicola was wearing had to be ripped along the seam to provide cover, and modesty for the two actors. "The skirt, a rather lovely and expensive DKNY skirt, wouldn't ride up as it was supposed to for the scene. I watched in horror and wonder as the wardrobe assistant slit open the seam away from the camera, so both James and I would be covered by the skirt. Twenty minutes later it was hanging up, perfectly re-sewn."

Nicola says her character shows a much more vulnerable side in this series, with an emotional upset in the last two episodes involving a little girl she rescues from an orphanage in Albania. "Taylor goes undercover as a successful lawyer who wants to buy a child from an orphanage in Albania. She is expected to bring back proof that money is changing hands, but she brings back a little girl. The move could cost her her job, put her in prison, and jeopardise the reputation of the OSC," Nicola explains. The little girl who plays Misha, the Albania orphan, is four year old Sophie Ashton from Swansea. She and Nicola played endless games between scenes. "Sophie is an adorable little girl, very chatty and intelligent. But one scene where we were supposed to be running down the corridor of an Albanian orphanage, Sophie suddenly shouted out in her lovely Welsh lilt 'Why are you running?' So we had to do the scene again. I love children. But I am not interested in having any of my own at the moment. My brother has three small children, so any maternal instincts I may have are completely fulfilled by them."

Born in Stepney, East London, Nicola says acting had always been her ambition. She was taken on by an agent straight after completing her studies at Cambridge University, and quickly landed her first film role as Claudia in the box office hit Four Weddings and a Funeral. Nicola's theatre work includes three productions for the Royal Court, Sweetheart for the Royal Court Upstairs, and Party Tricks at the Nottingham Playhouse, directed by Martin Clunes.

Her first television role was in Faith. She went on to appear in Milner, and Cows, in which she and Pam Ferris were dressed as cows. More recently Nicola starred as strident schoolteacher Suzy Travis in the BBC comedy series Chalk, and Pie in the Sky. She played a woman police constable in an episode of Jonathan Creek who was actually a murderer. "I really enjoyed playing a character who was on the wrong side of the law," Nicola admits.

 

Shaun Dingwall as DC Mark Rivers

It was a tense moment during filming for Shaun Dingwall. As the ambitious young Detective Constable Mark Rivers, he was trying to clinch a confession from a suspected serial killer.

But every time Shaun and his co-stars, Robson Green as Detective Inspector Dave Creegan, and Tony Curran as the murder suspect, tried to do the scene they collapsed in fits of laughter. "It was a very serious moment during the story. Creegan and Rivers are trying to pin this guy down to admitting the murders. But we kept corpsing, and we just couldn't get the lines out," says Shaun. "We had to do several takes before we could complete the scene without laughing. That happened quite a lot during filming, even though the subject was so dark. Robson and I would set each other off laughing. I do find the stories disturbing, who wouldn't? We are dealing with stories which go into the darker side of human nature. But you have to have a laugh when you are working on something like this. You can't take it home with you."

As the youngest team member of the OSC, Mark Rivers is very ambitious, and very focused on his job, which causes him to slip up a few times in the new series. He becomes desperate to prove himself. "I like my character as a person, but I don't think I would like to have a drink with him in the pub. He is very direct. I'd keep my distance," says Shaun. "In this new series Rivers has a confidence crisis when he fails to pull the trigger on a serial killer, which leads to the murder of a young woman. He begins to question himself, whether he is up to the job, and sees himself as a coward. Rivers becomes obsessed as he trails a serial killer who has slipped the net because of a mistake he made. He catches up with the man in a graveyard in time to stop him shooting a group of mourners, and ends up being shot himself."

Shaun took lessons from stunt coordinator Gareth Milne on how to react to being shot, and collapse onto a gravestone, without really hurting himself. Born in Walthamstow, East London, and brought up in Woodford Green, Shaun began his working life on the other side of the camera lens. He was a photographer's assistant, but spent a lot of his time having to polish smudges off brand new cars for commercial photo shoots. He had a variety of jobs, from selling second hand sewing machines to driving a van, before deciding acting was his real ambition.

Shaun attended acting workshops where his tutor suggested he should go to drama school. He won a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and shortly after completing the course he landed a role as a police constable in Anglia's police drama The Chief. His big television break came as squaddie Steve Evans in Soldier Soldier. Shaun has also appeared in A Breed of Heroes, The Bill, Between the Lines, Black Easter, and Class Act. His theatre work includes Return to the Desert and Beautiful Thing at London's Donmar Warehouse. He also appeared in the feature film Second Best.

After making the first series of Touching Evil, Shaun went on to star as a cheeky burglar in the BBC adaptation of the children's classic The Phoenix and the Carpet. The fantasy tale about four children and a magic carpet, was the perfect antidote to the dark thriller stories of Touching Evil, says Shaun.

Shaun's early work as a photographer's assistant sparked a deep interest in photography, which he pursues as a hobby, processing his own films. Shaun has also devoted spare time to writing, and his first screenplay, a short film, is about to be produced. "I am always messing about writing poems and bits of screenplays. This is the first one I've finished. But I would never give up acting. I love it too much."

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