Dougray Scott talks all about his new thriller series, Crime

Virgin Radio

15 Nov 2021, 15:31

Dougray Scott joined The Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose to talk all about his new BritBox series, 'Crime', which premieres this week.

Graham began by asking Dougray what a gift it was to play the role of Detective Inspector Ray Lennox in the new series, based on the thriller by Irvine Welsh.

The series is the first time Welsh has adapted something of his for television.

He replied: "It was a gift, it all originated from Irvine's mind. I read the novel about 10 or 11 years ago when I was looking for something to do with Irvine."

Dougray continued: "I flew to Dublin to meet him with a couple of other people. He asked if I'd read it and I hadn't."

"When I did, it just blew me away the story," he marvelled.

"The novel is set in Miami and Edinburgh, but we decided to concentrate on the Edinburgh part of it," he laughs.

"For me as an actor, you know, I kind of developed this character, and I wanted to stretch as far as I possibly could but the character that Irvine created is quite extraordinary."

Graham agreed: "We're used to flawed detectives, but this is kind of beyond flawed!"

"He's a man who's lived with darkness for most of his life, he's had a very, very troubled and tragic childhood," explains Dougray.

"He became a cop in order to try and find the people who did him wrong as a child. It's a perfect job for him, but you know this train collision is coming at some point."

He adds: "What he needs in his life is what harms him as well as being oxygen for him as a human being. The darkness and the demons as well, it fuels him in order to do his job properly."

It's a complex character and a dark show, featuring an abduction.

"He's obsessive about missing girls and serial killers, and he just instinctively thinks that it's got something to do with these other cases that he's been following for years," says Dougray.

"As the story progresses, you find out whether he's wrong or whether he's right."

All of the episodes will be available on BritBox to watch from Thursday 18, and Dougray told Graham to be cautious.

"You'll be able to binge watch it if you'd like - if you can take it!" he joked. "I mean, it's pretty intense. Six hours of this man trying to find a serial killer."

"Listen, I'm really proud of it. It's hard to be objective. But I do think it's very good."

You heard it from the man himself.

Crime is on BritBox from Thursday 18 November.

Listen to The Graham Norton Radio Show every Saturday AND Sunday from 9:30 am on Virgin Radio or catch up on-demand here.