hellomagazine.com

Karl Davies
CLICK HERE FOR MINI-BIOG

Best known for getting frisky with Patsy Kensit in Emmerdale, young actor Karl Davies talks to hellomagazine.com about grappling with life in a legal practice on the Stephen Fry series Kingdom, and why his character’s always getting into scrapes…

Six million viewers regularly tuned in to catch up with a small Norfolk law practice in Kingdom. Why do you think it was so popular?

"Obviously Stephen has a huge fan base, which immediately got us off on the right foot. But also it’s a fantastic piece of writing. The programme’s got charm and it’s nothing to do with drugs, crime or violence which are so (familiar on TV).

"It looks beautiful, too. The area hadn’t been seen a lot in any TV series so there was something new for people to look at, not a Manchester or London cityscape. There were these huge, sprawling vistas."

The cast list reads like a Who’s Who of British TV, with Tony Slattery, Hermione Norris and Celia Imrie included. Is there anything that would surprise us about the atmosphere on set?

"The rude language and smutty jokes! There’s a great atmosphere. Stephen keeps everybody buoyant, because he’s so funny and intelligent."

Tell us a bit about your character

"I play Lyle Anderson, who’s looking to qualify as a solicitor. He didn’t want to end up in a backwater like Norfolk. He was aiming for the bright lights of London and to be driving a Porsche and wearing a power suit.

"Unfortunately he didn’t do that well at uni. But despite not being the brightest spark he’s got his heart in the right place and is very good with people. He always seems to end up in trouble, like falling into a dyke and getting covered in mud. Lyle also tries with the ladies but never gets anywhere."

It was a very different story in Emmerdale in which you had some steamy scenes in your role as Patsy Kensit’s toy boy before you left in 2005…

"That was wonderful – it was a good day at work! Pasty was lovely, charming and very funny. A few of the crew were rather annoyed because I was in various states of undress with her."

Can you see yourself going back?

"I’m not dead in the series, which is quite a common exit. But I’m happy doing what I’m doing at the moment."

And you’ve tried to take very different roles since Emmerdale…

"Yeah, I’ve just done Dolphins, a film about the clash of two youth tribes, the ‘boy racers’ and the indie scene.

"I was also in the Channel 4 docu-drama A Very British Sex Scandal, about the 1954 trial of Lord Edward Montagu, which was credited with leading to the decriminalisation of homosexuality. I played a male nurse who had an affair with him. Portraying a real person was a different kind of challenge for me."

How much time does that leave for your girlfriend, former Emmerdale co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman, who plays vicar’s daughter Jasmine Thomas?

"Well, I’ve been away for the best part of six months so I’m not in the good books at the mo. But hopefully it’ll calm down (soon) and we’ll see more of each other. It’s great though, we’ve been together two and a half years now."

PROFILE

ONLINE POLL

VIDEO

SPECIAL