‘They're a POWER COUPLE!'

Stars Ruth Wilson and Ariyon Bakare on playing TV’s most sinister villains

- Caren Clark

Every drama needs a good villain but BBC1’s Sunday-night fantasy epic His Dark Materials boasts two such scene-stealers in scheming Mrs Coulter and sinister Lord Boreal.

Series two is based on the second book in Philip Pullman’s bestselling trilogy of novels and, in this week’s third episode, we see Mrs Coulter (played by Ruth Wilson) continue her relentless search for daughter Lyra (Dafne Keen).

Meanwhile, Mrs Coulter’s equally ruthless cohort Lord Boreal (Ariyon Bakare) has already made contact with Lyra, in his guise as collector Sir Charles Latrom, as he is eager to locate the mysterious subtle knife.

Here, Ruth, 38, and Ariyon, 49, tell us why they’re glad to play bad…

‘She’s Snow White and the Wicked Witch!’

Ruth Wilson on formidable Mrs Coulter

What do you enjoy most about the role?

She’s used her intelligence to survive in a male-dominated world. But what’s lovely is that it’s fantasy. There’s an element of detachment that allows you not to go completely down a dark hole. The role’s not as demanding as a straight drama.

Are we seeing a different side to Mrs Coulter this time?