GRACE lead actor John Simm has revealed tragedy strikes in the hit ITV drama’s fifth series.
John, 54, plays Detective Superintendent Roy Grace in the adaptation of Peter James’ international best-seller novels.
Speaking in a press Q&A ahead of series five, the actor addressed a heartbreaking time ahead for Roy and partner Cleo Moray (Zoë Tapper).
Discussing what’s to come in series five, John said: “When we find Cleo and Roy, they are dealing with the loss of a child, which has obviously happened between the series.
“So you realise quite quickly what’s happened.
“And yeah, they’re just trying to deal with, they’re also trying to deal with Bruno, who’s now kind of living with them.
“They both have to try and bond with Bruno through obviously tragic circumstances.
“What happened to Sandy and et cetera in the previous series.
“So yeah, it’s quite heightened but great to play, you need some dramatic tension.
“And so as actors, it’s much better to play something like that. It was a lovely challenge actually.”
In series three, it was revealed that Cleo was pregnant with her and Roy’s child.
While series four ended with Roy’s estranged wife Sandy taking her own life – and the revelation that he has an eight-year-old son, Bruno.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Grace star reveals his final episode has been aired as he quits after 4 series” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6362342421112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]John also addressed possibilities for Grace’s future in series six and beyond.
In particular, what would happen if the show were to run out of Peter James novels to adapt.
He said: “We’ve all talked about this. Peter’s got a treasure trove of ideas. So I think we’ll be all right.
“And also we were speaking yesterday about how pleased we are that the show is kind of deviating from the books now.
“It has been quietly over the last few years, really.
“For instance, Bella Moy dies quite early on in the books and we kept Bella Moy alive.
“Various characters are different and storylines are different. So I think that’s quite important.”
Grace series five will be coming to ITV in the Spring.
