Luke plays Martin Gimour – a journalist who formed an unbreakable bond with the wealthy Ben Fitzmaurice (Tom Cullen) at an elite boarding school. Three decades on, he is invited to a lavish birthday party at the Fitzmaurice’s country pile. The news of the Conservative leader’s resignation threatens to derail the party as he considers announcing his intention to stand. Martin fears the publicity that Ben’s bid would bring, dredging up the secrets of the past with tragic consequences…
Luke said: “I read the book and immediately thought; ‘This is just so fun.’ It’s my kind of story. I love the narrative. I love the characters. Selfishly, there was also a great leading role that I could play! I really wanted to develop something – and I’d had such a great experience working with World Productions before on The Pembrokeshire Murders. We’d always said that, if there was another opportunity, we’d love to do something together. Then this book landed in my lap and I just thought this could be it. So I went to Simon Heath at World Productions and said: ‘I think we should do this together’ and it didn’t take much to convince him. It was a no-brainer really.”
He went on: “Coming from a very working-class background myself, I understood Martin’s journey. Even though it probably wouldn’t have been my choice of journey, I understood him. I got the fact that, through a strange route, this man got what he wanted and succeeded. He came from nothing but was very clever, almost chameleon-like, in how he could adapt and observe and blend in – and I thought it was very interesting. In the UK, we see a lot of the class system – the entitled, the people with old money, and the people with no money – and those classes don’t mix very often. Only yesterday, I was reading an article about the peerage system and all the aristocrats in the House of Lords. They’re all the old, land-owning families and they get to vote and have a say in what goes on in this country. But it’s the working class who keep this country moving. In the drama, you put those two different classes together and see what happens.”
Did he identify with Martin?
“Absolutely,” said Luke. “This kid gets an opportunity to go to an Eton-style school. But he sticks out like a sore thumb and is treated as an outsider by almost everybody. I have always felt like an outsider myself. Even in my industry, when I first became a film actor, I didn’t feel like I belonged. I didn’t feel accepted in the way I saw other people of my age and peer group being accepted. So Martin resonated a lot with me. But I also admired him because it didn’t stop him from keeping going. He was a fighter. He was able to manoeuvre himself into the right places, so the opportunities arose. It’s a very relatable story. There’s ambition there. There’s a want to be loved. There is a want to be accepted. There is a want to do something. Martin always reflected on the fact that his family didn’t have many ambitions. They lived in a small house in South Wales. There was a lot there that made sense to me as a human being – and I thought it would be very interesting to see it on screen.”
Well, that’s it for now – catch you next week for some more TV chatter – stay safe!
Author: Steve
Editor of Hartlepool Life and author of TV Life