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TV Quickfire: Inbetweeners star Henry Lloyd-Hughes on new crime series Ragdoll

Henry Lloyd-Hughes stars in new fast-paced thriller Ragdoll. We found out more from him about the series...

Henry Lloyd-Hughes as DS Nathan Rose
Henry Lloyd-Hughes as DS Nathan Rose Henry Lloyd-Hughes as DS Nathan Rose

WHAT APPEALED TO YOU ABOUT RAGDOLL?

I MEAN, it's bonkers. I genuinely defy anyone to say one second of it is boring; it's like the least boring show I've ever seen. But what brought me to the role was Freddy Syborn, who is the writer and showrunner. His take on the police universe is genuinely unique. He's a brilliant writer, and, when it comes to seeing a thrilling, adrenalin-filled police world, he's the perfect man to take us there.

Having humour and darkness in equal measure is very satisfying as an actor because you have to push those things all the time. To mine that darkness in the story, but also to have a constant vein of levity and humour and absurdity, is challenging, but what's great about this show is, as dark as it gets, it doesn't take itself too seriously.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, DS ROSE?

He used to be a slightly more senior officer, but he's spent time away from the police due to a deeply troubling personal incident involving a suspect. Where we meet him in the show is almost in a work rehabilitation setting, and he's trying to find his feet.

Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for the viewers, the case he's getting involved in as we start the show gets him dragged back into the very case that got him removed from the police force in the first place. So that's the push and pull.

Moving on from that, he's trying to fix his mind – but also at the same time, more than anything else, trying to fix the case as well. So he's trying to juggle those things: fix his relationships, fix the case, and fix what's left of his own sanity.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE ROSE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS COLLEAGUE, DI EMILY BAXTER?

Baxter and Rose can't live with each other, and they can't live without each other. Rose has very little in his life; it's a very sparse existence. Baxter anchors him to some kind of continuity, I suppose, but only in a certain context. It can't cross over beyond where the line in the sand is – but it's unclear where that line is. They're completely entwined, but at the same time they're very different people and not necessarily naturally suited.

They're like polar opposites, and yet together they create a kinetic energy that they both feed off. It's an interesting relationship that shifts its shape throughout the series, in a way that is hopefully compelling, and makes people question what the nature of the relationship is.

WHICH SCENES HAVE STUCK WITH YOU?

On the second day on set, I had to leap like Spider-Man over several rows of people and beat someone unconscious in a courtroom. I remember one day my children hadn't slept at all and I was operating on about two hours' sleep. I was strapped to a wire on the top of a seven-storey building, ready to film a scene with my eyes closed, where I had to hang off the side. I remember opening my eyes and looking down, and it was like one of those anxiety dreams where you're falling.

I'd been up for hours, I'd already had plenty of coffee, but it was like I'd just woken up and I was leaning diagonally over the edge. Put it this way, some of those reactions are for real. But we've got everything: fire, water, cars, chases, me sprinting through the streets of London beating people up, guns, nail guns, the whole box of tricks.

:: Ragdoll premieres on Alibi on Monday December 6.