Bergerac’s Damien Molony has shared details of John Nettles’s reaction to the rebooted series, sharing that the original star was supportive of the new version.
The UKTV show, a revival of the BBC series that originally aired between 1981 and 1991, sees Molony take on the role of the troubled detective, who heads to Jersey to solve cases whilst battling his own personal demons.
Ahead of the show’s premiere later this month (February 27), Molony revealed to Metro that he had met with Nettles to showcase the reboot’s first episode, with the original star sharing a “lovely sentiment” during their meeting.
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“I had lunch with him [Nettles] last week and he was just so lovely,” recalled Molony, who has previously starred in Brassic and The Split. “He said so many nice things about the first episode, too.
“He finished our lunch [by] saying, ‘Bergerac has been so good to me and my career, and I really hope it does the same for you.’ I thought [that] was a lovely sentiment, and it just goes to show how much of a good guy he is.”
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Molony, who is joined in the cast by Zoë Wanamaker and Philip Glenister, continued by sharing that he felt little apprehension in taking the role despite his admiration for Nettles, explaining that the support from fans helped to quell any doubts.
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“No [I wasn’t anxious] because I was so excited to start work on it,” he said. “I loved the character from the audition scenes. I suppose the closer we got to starting to film… the nerves would start to kick in - I thought, ‘my goodness, I don’t want to mess this up.’
“Anyone who has ever watched Bergerac has such wonderful [and] happy memories of the show, [so] they were just so genuinely happy for me that I was getting to play this incredible character. It’s exciting to [ride that] crest [of a] wave - that banishes any sort of kind of pressure or any daunting element whatsoever.”
Bergerac will premiere on U&Drama on February 27.
Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
