Perdita
31-03-2009, 06:17
The Bill's PC Nate Roberts - played by Ben Richards - is thrown into the thick of it next week when he's appointed Safer Schools Officer for the city's troubled Deansgate Comprehensive. The bank of six episodes, which make up the cop drama's 'School Season', focus on the troubles and pressures facing teachers and students alike within an inner-city school, such as bullying, drugs and sexual abuse. Here, DS chats to Ben about his upcoming set of episodes, which see a shocking stabbing during the first and a surprising romance along the way.
In a nutshell, what's your six-parter all about?
"Basically, Nate gets pushed into being the Safer Schools Officer at Deansgate Comprehensive because there's been an upscale in problems there. What happens in city schools sometimes is that there's too much of that going on and they'll bring in a police officer to try and get on top of the crime. Nate's given the job, much to his initial annoyance. He gets on with it, though, and by the end it's made him a better copper."
You must have jumped at the chance to take this special set of episodes?
"It's great to have that responsibility. It's a different kind of feel to normal episodes of The Bill."
Did you manage to do any research for the part?
"Nate's a fish out of water with this one and I wanted it to be the same for me. I didn't want to get too on top of it because I wanted it to look like Nate didn't know what he was doing at first and over time, he gets better at it. It's quite interesting because Nate goes into it all thinking everything's black and white, but soon realises that there are so many different shades of grey."
There's quite a shocking turn of events in the first episode, isn't there?
"Yeah, Smithy gets stabbed! We think it's a straightforward case when we turn up as there are two girls having a tussle over stolen gear. But it turns out that it's two guys and a girl. The guys run off, with Smithy and I going after one guys each - then Smithy gets stabbed. Nate feels a lot of guilt and it drives him forward to want to focus on his job at the school."
What other issues does the six-parter address?
"The second episode focuses on drug dealing, then the third deals with the topic of covert abuse. By episode three, Nate realises the severity of the problems in the school and he starts to care about the people there."
Nate's happy that there's a potential love interest too?
"Yeah, the lovely Naomi Ryan, who plays head of year Becky, and there's an underlying attention throughout. You wonder whether they're going to start fighting or start kissing. They're very contrasting people and their relationship is an interesting one to watch. During the fifth episode, Nate discovers that she's been mugged and the depth of his feelings for her suddenly hit home…"
Do you enjoy playing a Lothario?
"Yeah, it's fantastic. What's great about him, though, is that he's not sleazy. He's very honest about the way he is, that he's just up for a good time and not one for relationships."
Would you want him to settle down?
"Yeah, it's interesting to see him in a relationship. As we speak, I'm filming episodes where he's involved with someone, even though he's still his flirty self."
Profiles online claim that Nate has a child…
"No, he doesn't have a kid. Although that would be a good twist, someone suddenly turns up with a child or leaves the child at Sun Hill for him. That would have been a drunken night that Nate had forgotten about! Maybe there'd be a note with it saying 'Nate Roberts, this is yours'. Brilliant. I'll have to speak to the producers about this!"
Do you miss Footballers' Wives?
"Yeah, I loved it. But it was the right time to finish it. There's nothing worse than a show that drags on."
Are you with The Bill for the foreseeable future?
"I'm here until January at the moment, then we'll see what happens."
The Bill's 'School Season' begins on Wednesday, April 8 at 8pm on ITV1.
In a nutshell, what's your six-parter all about?
"Basically, Nate gets pushed into being the Safer Schools Officer at Deansgate Comprehensive because there's been an upscale in problems there. What happens in city schools sometimes is that there's too much of that going on and they'll bring in a police officer to try and get on top of the crime. Nate's given the job, much to his initial annoyance. He gets on with it, though, and by the end it's made him a better copper."
You must have jumped at the chance to take this special set of episodes?
"It's great to have that responsibility. It's a different kind of feel to normal episodes of The Bill."
Did you manage to do any research for the part?
"Nate's a fish out of water with this one and I wanted it to be the same for me. I didn't want to get too on top of it because I wanted it to look like Nate didn't know what he was doing at first and over time, he gets better at it. It's quite interesting because Nate goes into it all thinking everything's black and white, but soon realises that there are so many different shades of grey."
There's quite a shocking turn of events in the first episode, isn't there?
"Yeah, Smithy gets stabbed! We think it's a straightforward case when we turn up as there are two girls having a tussle over stolen gear. But it turns out that it's two guys and a girl. The guys run off, with Smithy and I going after one guys each - then Smithy gets stabbed. Nate feels a lot of guilt and it drives him forward to want to focus on his job at the school."
What other issues does the six-parter address?
"The second episode focuses on drug dealing, then the third deals with the topic of covert abuse. By episode three, Nate realises the severity of the problems in the school and he starts to care about the people there."
Nate's happy that there's a potential love interest too?
"Yeah, the lovely Naomi Ryan, who plays head of year Becky, and there's an underlying attention throughout. You wonder whether they're going to start fighting or start kissing. They're very contrasting people and their relationship is an interesting one to watch. During the fifth episode, Nate discovers that she's been mugged and the depth of his feelings for her suddenly hit home…"
Do you enjoy playing a Lothario?
"Yeah, it's fantastic. What's great about him, though, is that he's not sleazy. He's very honest about the way he is, that he's just up for a good time and not one for relationships."
Would you want him to settle down?
"Yeah, it's interesting to see him in a relationship. As we speak, I'm filming episodes where he's involved with someone, even though he's still his flirty self."
Profiles online claim that Nate has a child…
"No, he doesn't have a kid. Although that would be a good twist, someone suddenly turns up with a child or leaves the child at Sun Hill for him. That would have been a drunken night that Nate had forgotten about! Maybe there'd be a note with it saying 'Nate Roberts, this is yours'. Brilliant. I'll have to speak to the producers about this!"
Do you miss Footballers' Wives?
"Yeah, I loved it. But it was the right time to finish it. There's nothing worse than a show that drags on."
Are you with The Bill for the foreseeable future?
"I'm here until January at the moment, then we'll see what happens."
The Bill's 'School Season' begins on Wednesday, April 8 at 8pm on ITV1.