‘I feel proud to be part of this'

Ben Aldridge tells TV Times about his strong personal connections to a thriller rooted in pride, shame and faith

- STEVEN PERKINS

When a body is found on a North Devon beach, the ensuing murder investigation forces a detective to confront his own painful past.

That’s the familiar premise of ITV’s The Long Call, based on the bestselling novel by Ann Cleeves (whose books also inspired the hit series Vera and Shetland). But what gives this four-part thriller – which airs from Monday to Thursday this week – a new spin is that the case has links to the Barum Brethren, a religious community in which lead character DI Matthew Venn was raised.

During a break in filming, TV Times talked to Our Girl ’s Ben Aldridge, 35, who plays Matthew, and discovered he and his character have a surprising amount in common…

Where do we find DI Matthew Venn at the start of the series?

We first meet him attending his father’s funeral, where he’s not allowed to go inside the church service, and that’s when he finds out about the dead body.

He’s recently returned to the hometown that he had kind of been exiled from 20 years earlier because he was raised in a very strict religious community that no longer aligned with his beliefs. But now he finds himself back there for various reasons – partly to do with his husband Jonathan’s job.

What in particular about the role was appealing to you?