Game of CHANCE

ALISTAIR PETRIE on playing a master manipulator in a con-man tale with a twist

- JUDY EWENS, REBECCA MAHONEY

THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE BASED ON A PACK OF LIES

NEW TUESDAY, 9PM, BBC1 DRAMA (BOX SET, BBC IPLAYER)

A scantily clad Alistair Petrie is running up and down film studios in north London, psyching himself up to burst into a riveting scene that really does take his (and our!) breath away.

TV Times is visiting the set of The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies, BBC1's intriguingly titled, five-part darkly comic thriller in which Alistair plays a charming con artist, Dr Rob Chance, who becomes entangled in a toxic triangle of love, lies and trickery.

A lauded climate scientist, Rob is allegedly on a mission to save the world while eyeing up his next target, wealthy fantasy-fiction writer Cheryl Harker (Marianne Jean-Baptiste).

But when he unknowingly crosses paths with one of his victims, ex-wife Alice Newman (Rebekah Staton), will the fraudster get his comeuppance?

Here, Alistair*, 52, star of hit espionage drama The Night Manager, gives us his take...

What is Rob up to when we meet him?

He is the director of a climate academy in deepest Greenland, which has ties to the University of Oxford. It's all going quite well, but everything is caveated with the phrase, 'Or is it?' because there's always a big fat lie underneath. We know he's a con artist from the outset, but he's an extraordinary combination of a psychopath, a narcissist and a Machiavel.

How do you get into the mindset of such a character?

I binge-watched true-crime documentaries and the show's writers, sisters Ginny and Penelope Skinner, gave me an incredible four-page document on Rob's backstory, which was my bible. But I've always said I'm like my characters' lawyer, so I don't condone their actions, but I represent them. I try to figure out the human underneath.

Why does he target Alice and Cheryl?