What’s on TV – 17 August 2019

7

Farewell...

David Hedison

1927-

Wo

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Jo

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Fight for life...

Ned, Kitty and

(below) Ross

What’s Not!

What’s Hot!

7 pages of all the week’s biggest TV shows

TVweek

EXTRA

What’s

on

TV

Lots of Love!

The Love Island

final on ITV 2 on 29

July saw the reality

show bow out

on a high – 4.3m

viewers tuned in to

watch Amber Gill

and Greg O’Shea

win the contest. It

beat Who Do You

Think You Are?

on BBC1 (2.8m).

Fading glow

Starring John

Cleese and Alison

Steadman, the

second series of

Hold the Sunset,

which began on

2 August at 9pm

on BBC1, pulled in

just 1.3m viewers – almost

5m down on the first episode

of the first series, which had

a Sunday evening slot.

29 July-4 August 2019

Best known for...

David is most

famous for his

role as nuclear

submarine captain

Lee Crane in the

hit futuristic TV

series Voyage to

the Bottom of the

Sea, which ran

for four series

between 1964 and 1 968.

Other achievements...

One of his first roles was as

scientist Andre Delambre, who

got turned into an insect in

the classic 1958 sci-fi film The

Fly. He was also well known to

James Bond fans as CIA agent

Felix Leiter, a role he played

in Live and Let Die in 1973 and

Licence to Kill in 1 989.

Family life...

David died on 1 8 July in Los

Angeles. He was 92 and is

survived by his daughters,

Serena and Alexandra.

Q

Vincent, after last week’s

arrest, your character

Ned Despard is found guilty of

treason this week. But he has

been stitched up, hasn’t he?

A

Vincent: Yes, he’s fallen

foul of the mahogany

industry, including Ralph

Hanson (Peter Sullivan), who

has basically stitched him up

by saying he’s been acting

against the interests of the

Crown. There’s a real fear

that the monarchy will be

overthrown in a revolution

just like in France, and Ned’s

an easy scapegoat. He’s

sentenced to be hung,

drawn and quartered.

Q

Ned hasn’t taken Ross’

advice to lie low...

A

Kerri: No – the

difference between

Ned and Ross is that

Ross knows how to

play the game and

Ned doesn’t.

Vincent: Ned’s an

impulsive person

and his impetuous

behaviour gets

him in real trouble. Ned

and Ross are a bit like Butch

Cassidy and the Sundance

Kid, though Ned’s a bit too

Butch Cassidy and not

enough Sundance Kid!

Q

Kerri, you play Ned’s

wife Kitty, who’s now

pregnant. How does she cope

with Ned facing the gallows?

A

Kerri: Kitty is quite

formidable, she’s really

intelligent and a bit of a

force, so she’s writing letters

and being an activist. She’s

quite strategic and

she’s determined to

free him.

Q

Ross then decides to

stage a jailbreak to try

to save Ned. What happens?

A

Vincent: So Ross tries

to get Ned out of jail

and, just at the end, Ned

says to Ross that Ross is

everything he wanted to be.

It’s so nice to see central

characters working with the

best motives. Ned’s very

aware of Ross’ goodness.

Q

Both Kitty and Ned are

based on real-life

characters, aren’t they?

A

Vincent: I hadn’t heard

about Ned Despard

until I started working on

Poldark, but I’d hate for

viewers not to be aware that

he was a real person, and

that there was an injustice.

Kerri: It’s astounding how

as a black woman Kitty

has kind of been written

out of history, even though

she was writing to the

Prime Minister to try to

get Ned pardoned. I feel

honoured to be giving

her a voice! Q

POLDARK

Sunday, 9pm BBC1 Drama

Ned faces

the gallows!

Poldark’s Vincent Regan and Kerri McLean

reveal how Ross’ friend is sentenced to death...

Evil schemer...

Ralph with

daughter Cecily

Fab finale...

Winner Amber

Going down...

John and Alison