BBC's new drama Death Valley has unexpected crime-solving twist with 'an edge'

Death Valley centres around an unlikely crime-solving duo in the Welsh countryside

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The BBC's upcoming murder mystery series, Death Valley, is set to debut tonight (Sunday, May 25).

Penned by Paul Doolan, the six-part whodunnit revolves around quirky national treasure, John Chapel (Timothy Spall), a retired actor and star of the popular fictional TV detective show Caesar.

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When John's neighbour is shockingly murdered, he joins forces with charming detective sergeant, Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth) to crack the case.

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This unlikely pair of crime solvers tackle gripping murders each week, against the backdrop of various picturesque Welsh locations.

"When John and Janie are not arguing about a case, they're inevitably up in each other's personal business," the synopsis continues, reports Belfast Live.

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"Despite their differences, they soon realise they are the closest thing each other has to a best friend and unwittingly help one another move on from the past."

The regular cast also features Steffan Rhodri as Janie's superior, DCI Barry Clarke, Melanie Walters as Yvonne, Janie's "no boundaries" mother, and Remy Beasley as Rhiannon, an old foe from Janie's past.

Completing the line-up is Mike Bubbins as the overly friendly desk sergeant, Tony, and Rithvik Andugula as DC Evan Chaudhry, the "eager to please" junior police officer.

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Guest stars include Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Sian Gibson, Patricia Hodge, Jim Howick and Karl Johnson.

At a recent press event for the series, executive producer Madeline Addy was enthusiastic about Paul Doolan's distinctive scripts.

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"[I got involved] quite early doors. My boss, Josh Cole, was a big champion of the project and sent it to me, and I read it and absolutely loved it," she said.

"Paul is a very talented and very well respected comedy writer so it was really exciting to us that he wanted to create this really original comedy-drama with an edge to it.

"The fact that it feels it's genre blending, a mixing pot of different genres. Paul's got this classic whodunnit with a twist to it, and there's high-stakes drama and along with that, it's like an inter-generational comedy as well. So, there's quite a lot going on."

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Madeline concluded: "I think it's wholly original."

The producer went on to reveal that over 70 cast members appear across the six episodes.

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Timothy, the lead actor, shared insights into his journey taking on a more comedic role, along with the hurdles of portraying two conflicting characters – the actor and his most famous persona.

"It's only hard because the expectation of making people laugh. Humour is a big taste thing, some people like certain aspects of it and some people don't," he said.

"The challenge is to try and play a character, however eccentric or supposedly funny they are."

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Timothy added: "It's nice to be able to play with that, someone who is a detective, and mess around with certain aspects of actors' [personalities], themselves, their skills and their conceits and over inflated versions of themselves.

"It was nice to be able to play a character who was somewhat heightened."

Death Valley will premiere on BBC One and BBC One Wales at 8.15pm on Sunday, May 25

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