‘This role is meant for me'

Ben Miller on how his own experiences are helping him play TV’s latest crime-fighter…

- ELAINE REILLY

PROFESSOR T

Available: Thursday 3 June Season: 1 Episode: 6 Run time: 50 mins NEW DRAMA

Thirty years ago, Ben Miller was halfway through a PhD in Physics at the University of Cambridge when he decided to quit to pursue a career in show business.

Now, the actor is returning to his old stomping ground to play an eccentric criminology lecturer in brand-new drama Professor T, which launches on BritBox this week before airing on ITV later this year.

Based on a hit Belgian series of the same name, the six-parter begins with Ben’s character, brilliant but brisk Jasper Tempest, being asked by a former student, Lisa Donckers (played by Bridgerton’s Emma Naomi), to act as a consultant on police investigations.

Here, in a typically candid interview, Ben, 55, shares with TV Times the personal reasons why he feels destined to play this role...

Why did you want to play Jasper?