"The thing is," says Timothy Spall, "when you try and explain where the character you’re playing comes from, you’re talking about something that is ineffable. If you’re not careful, you end up sounding like a prat."
"Curmudgeonly, slightly childish but bright," according to Spall, Chapel lives in a cottage in the fabulously verdant Vale of Glamorgan, where his solitary existence is disturbed by the arrival of DS Janie Mallowan (played by Gwyneth Keyworth), who is investigating the murder of Chapel’s neighbour.
Almost the first thing Mallowan notices is Chapel’s framed Inspector Caesar Radio Times cover. That same cover is visible in Spall’s real-life London home today, along with two genuine RT covers for his previous turns as Porthos in The Three Musketeers in 1994 and Fagin in 2007’s Oliver Twist. "Radio Times is an iconic thing, isn’t it? It’s wonderful," Spall says, before pointing out just how good Keyworth is: "It’s a wonderful performance as this eccentric, slightly disarming, but also slightly shocking, copper."
We’re meeting just before Spall addresses the nation on VE Day in the guise of Winston Churchill. He first played Churchill in 2010’s The King’s Speech, part of a wide-ranging resumé that, as well as world leaders, features Brummie electrician Barry from Auf Wiedersehen Pet and the painter JMW Turner in Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner. Spall is sitting in front of a painting he created for the role and beneath it sits his 2024 BAFTA for The Sixth Commandment. "I always wanted one of these," he says, still beaming. "It’s lovely to have it."
Now 68, the Battersea comprehensive boy, son of a Post Office worker and hairdresser, has had a sparkling run of late especially, as he puts it, as "posh characters": as well as murder victim Peter Farquhar in The Sixth Commandment there was his ogre-like Duke of Norfolk in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. By comparison, Death Valley is light stuff, but Spall likes it very much, particularly the relationship between Chapel and Mallowan who, after initially sparring, settle down to solve murders together.
For once in this kind of odd-couple drama there is no will they, won’t they. This, says Spall, is more "uncle and niece". Which is possibly a relief, as Spall is exactly twice the age of 34-year-old Keyworth. "Later on in the series, we find out that there is quite a lot of sexual attraction, but it’s not between them," says Spall, of a series that also stars Gavin & Stacey’s Melanie Walters and Steffan Rhodri.
In which case, what about taking on more romantic roles in the future – are there enough for older actors? "I don’t yearn for it," he says. "I’ve played many roles where I’ve had love interests, so I’m not sitting there thinking, ‘Oh, now I’m in my late 60s I hope I’m going to become some old codger romantic.’
But how would he find the time? Everyone wants a slice of Timothy Spall. There’s the request to write an autobiography – "I’ve had some ups and downs, so there’s a story to tell," he says. "My vanity is always pricked by that, but then I think, ‘Actually, bloody hell, how would I go about it?’" – and there’s the painting to catch up with. "The gallery keeps on at me, but it’s just finding the time now. The day job keeps getting in the way."
The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here.
Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Death Valley's Timothy Spall: 'I'm in my late 60s – I'm not yearning to play romantic scenes' )
Also on site :