Babylon interview with Bertie Carvel

Who do you play, and what are they like?
I play Finn Kirkwood, the Old Bill's answer to the Dark Arts. He's cynical, aggressive, intelligent, hot-tempered - but his spiky armour conceals a heart that beats with a passion for public service and social justice.

What are the chief strengths of Sam and Jesse’s writing?
Their wit and dexterity of thought float on top of dramatic writing with real emotional and intellectual depth. They have an extraordinary ability to be funny and serious at the same time.

It’s by no means your typical police show; is that part of the attraction for you?
Yes. It's a really three-dimensional look at the politics of policing. It looks at the whole ecology, as it were. It's certainly not just cops and robbers.

What did you do in the way of research for the role?
It's really all in the script. But, you know, I read the newspapers. I've always been interested in current affairs and paid fairly close attention to the stories of the day. My father is a journalist, as was his father and his grandfather before him, so I suppose that's sort of in my blood.  You'd have to be living on the moon not to have picked up what a hot topic press PR, spin-doctoring and information management have become in recent years. The argument that's at the centre of Babylon is a really important one for our times, so it has helped to have a strong sense of the context.