The stars of the Bergerac reboot returned to Jersey this week for a glitzy premiere of series two – which they say could top the first… but one high-profile cast member went even further, telling Express the new detective might be even “better than John Nettles”.
The lucky audience were treated to a special screening of the series’ first episode at Jersey Opera House on Monday followed by a live on-stage Q&A featuring Damien Molony – aka Jim Bergerac – and showrunner Toby Whithouse.
Also in attendance at the premiere were Jim Bergerac’s on-screen daughter, Chloe Sweetlove, and legendary comic actor Adrian Edmonson, who joins the show as the love interest to the detective’s mother-in-law Charlie, played by Zoe Wanamaker.
Damien Molony returns as Detective Jim Bergerac for the rebooted show’s second series Picture: ROB CURRIE
Express spoke to the cast to quiz them about all things series two, off-screen escapades and what makes Jersey such a special place…
Favourite things to do in Jersey?
Damien: “I’d often go to the Moorings hotel in Gorey; they do this incredible Happy Hour for Oysters.
“The one day I had off last year was the Jersey air show. We couldn’t film that day because the noise was so loud in the skies that it would have made everything we filmed null and void, so it was lovely walking around the harbour.”
Chloe: “We were staying at the Grand Hotel, so I was known to – obviously we’re so close to the ocean – to kind of get up and put on my gown and walk across the street, and take a little sunrise swim.”
Adrian: “I really liked the Lido. If I lived here I’d go there every day.”
What can we expect for their characters?
Damien: “It’s not interesting if (characters) stay in the same place, so yeah, everyone is moving on.
“Kim, Jim’s daughter, is moving on, Charlie (Jim’s mother-in-law) is moving on, she’s dating, so Jim is at real risk of being left behind.
“I don’t think he’s necessarily looking for love, but someone comes into his life in the first episode and there is this instant connection.”
GALLERY: Where has Bergerac series two filming taken place so far?
Adrian: “It’s a love interest part, which I’ve never played before – never played a love interest.
“I auditioned for the love interest in 1979, for Gail Tinsley’s love interest in Coronation Street, and I didn’t get it.
“But boy, as a starter, that was really exciting.”
Chloe: “I think what’s interesting is that now Jim is kind of a little bit more together, so there’s some space for Kim’s grief and to explore what it is, and how you go about living life without the person that you love, and establishing yourself in a world that you are unfamiliar with.”
How was it working with such a strong cast?
Chloe: “There’s something incredible about (Adrian) and Damien, and Zoe; you kind of arrive on set and it’s very comforting to realise that they are doing the work too.
“There’s just this kind of playfulness to really like experiment and explore. (Adrian)’s incredible at that, he’s really got an eye and a keen sense of timing, and tempo and rhythm.”
Adrian: “I think he’s brilliant, Damien. He’s got a real grip on that idea of Bergerac, which is – and say it gently – better than John Nettles!”
“Damien’s got a real good grip on that idea of Bergerac, which is, and say it gently, better than John Nettles!”
Adrian edmonson
Damien: “[Adrian] really made me laugh. We had such a great laugh, and he’s a brilliant actor – and [his character] Nigel is just sweet, a gentle soul, very much like Ade.
“We would have great chats in between scenes. I was filming a scene where he’s cooking for us; I said, ‘do you like cooking in real life?’, and he said ‘yeah, I won Celebrity MasterChef’.
“‘I asked ‘have you ever done back off?’, and he’s like, ‘yeah, I won that too!’”
How was it coming back for a second series?
Damien: “It was my very first day filming series two on Jersey and I noticed a lot of buses stopping outside our set and a lot of people waving.
“We were filming in St Brelade’s Bay and a lot of people in the shops, and staying in the hotel there, would come down to set and say, ‘what’s going on, is this Bergerac?, and would just say lovely things about the first series.
“One of the things I’ve noticed about filming here is how proud people are about Jersey, and also proud of Bergerac, just how welcoming they are to me and my family and to the whole cast and crew that came over to make this show.”
READ: Meet the cast: Who will be starring in the second series of the Bergerac reboot?
Chloe: “There was something very disconcerting, in a way, about being in a place you’ve only ever been once, but it feels very immediately at home, and I think partly that’s because I grew up in Cape Town, and so being by the ocean is very familiar to me.
“There’s something about the Island in general that’s very welcoming; it just feels that you can get to know it in a way that’s interesting.
How was it coming back for a second series?
Damien: “What’s so exciting about coming back for season two is that we get to show off more of the Island, and now PBS has acquired the show in the US – so it’s a great opportunity for people to get to know what I call just the very natural beauty of Jersey.
“It doesn’t need to do anything; it’s just naturally very beautiful.
“They had this scene where it was a chase through the streets, and our director said, you know, the streets could be anywhere – why don’t we find a really stunning location to show this off?
“And so we shot it all for two days in Fort Regent, a huge car chase, and then also a chase on foot… that’s the stuff I love doing.
“And then we shot this, Kim has a going-away party – we shot that in the Lido, in Havre de Pas, which is also really beautiful, the sun was setting.
“So I hope – first and foremost – that the people of Jersey will be really proud to see Jersey on screen.
“I think it looks incredible on the show, and fingers crossed if we come back for any more series we’ll get to show off more of the locations.”
“It’s a great opportunity for people to get know what I call just the very natural beauty of Jersey”
Damien MOlony
Chloe: “It’s my first time ever doing the second series of something, and it’s a very interesting experience to kind of come back and you land in a place that’s already familiar with people you already know, and the dynamics already established, and then you go on this adventure again.
“There’s something about it that’s more complex. It’s like you suddenly smell a perfume for a third time and you’re like ‘Oh, there’s the vanilla’, it gets more kind of rich and embodied.
“It kind of felt that way filming as well. It was like ‘Oh, we know this place, now we can go here, go there’, and yeah, it’s like a courtship or something.”
What can we expect in the future?
Chloe: “I think that really the key is that if you’re invested in characters and you’re invested in people, you can watch them endlessly.
“It’s about creating that kind of connection with the audience, and having them root for you, not because you’re some perfect person, but because they can relate to the characters and go through similar struggles to them.”
GALLERY: First look at series two of new Bergerac
Damien: “I love coming here and I would love to come back again to do another series, (but) you can never tell, so much of it is kind of out of our control.
“One location that we have never shot, that I hear the most about, is the tunnel.
“In the old Bergerac, I think they would drive into the tunnel and then emerge from the tunnel to a completely different part of the Island.
“So I would love to do a scene where we drive into the tunnel, and we come out of the tunnel, and we’re still in St Helier – I would love that. I’m going to try and fight for that.”
Bergerac will be available to stream on U (formerly UKTV Play) and Channel 4’s website/app.
