Tell me about the character you play?

Nathan Williams is a single parent with a teenage son, and they rub along just fine, but there is a cloud of grief over the house following the death of his wife Sabine. Things are not great because they are on that journey of grief. But there is a normality, there is the rhythm to the working day because of the needs of the animals on the farm, which keeps Nathan on his toes. At the same time he is mindful of his teenage boy, and to make sure he is heading in the right direction, and there is a normality to that.

His son gets involved with drugs – what happens- and how does Nathan find out?

There is this collision with the world of county lines drug dealing that has sort of tricked Johnny, his son, into carrying things around and being peripherally involved with the drugs market, which is not something he goes into willingly. He gets conned into it, and drags that world into the rural farming community. It is really at odds. It is an industry that is constantly looking for new markets and it is quite shocking to see it crashing into this agricultural world and into this delicate father son relationship.

Johnny is caught up in a more dangerous part of county lines crime?

Yes he does and ultimately the whole farm gets drawn into it. Johnny gets involved with this really nasty character, Kenny, a career criminal.

Johnny has this crush on this girl, Sadie, and her brother Rhys is involved with drugs. He is slightly older than the two of them. One night Sadie is attacked by this villain, Kenny, and she carries a blade which she stabs him with. Johnny comes rushing in, grabs the blade and ends up killing Kenny. Then he calls his Dad for help.

Nathan doesn’t have a great relationship with his brother Caleb. But when he tells Caleb that Johnny has killed a man, Caleb, with his army experience, is able to take over and deal with disposing of Kenny’s body.

Then the big boss at the very top of the drug distribution pyramid gets involved when one of his workers doesn’t show up, and puts the entire family under threat. That is when Nathan gets the idea of accommodating them, having them on the farm and on his neighbour’s farm.

How is Nathan managing the grief of losing his wife. Is he dealing with it or struggling?

He has got this constant pressure of the farm and keeping that all rolling. He is investing a lot in his attention, and doing the right thing by Johnny because he didn’t have the best of fathers himself.

On another parallel Sabine his late wife had a horse and a companion pony – they have to be dealt with. The stables is a sort of shrine to Sabine, and his time with her horse is quite sacred.
But things aren’t functioning that well. I don’t know what a successful father son relationship under those circumstances would look like.

Why did you want to take this role. It couldn’t be more different to Doc Martin?

Ed Whitmore, the writer, and Marc Evans, the director approached us with it as an idea. This seemed like a story worth telling about the spread of the of the county lines drug business and the threat that it poses to people.

“I’m very happy to be working with Marc Evans and Ed Whitmore again after the success of Manhunt. Out There couldn’t be more different from Doc Martin. It’s pretty dark, but definitely a story worth telling.”

County Lines crime is a growing UK wide problem. How much did you know about it before you started filming?

We researched the whole county lines problem with Marc and Ed. While this is a work of fiction the way that business model works is represented accurately because the research was so thorough.

Were you shocked by what you discovered?

I was shocked by certain things – shocked by the stabbing. There is a story of stabbing every day in the news, and that callous approach to life, the way these kids are used as a disposable work force. You can see the rank system, and the way they can rise up the ranks, It’s a very well thought out, nasty business.

Is the farm family owned?

Nathan inherited the farm from his father, and he bought out his brother Caleb when he wanted some money to go his separate way.

Nathan is very interested in trying to buy his neighbour’s farm himself which puts his loyalty to the widow of his neighbour to the test, as he is taking care of her capital while she is hospital. He’s genuinely keeping an eye on things for her, but it doesn’t look great that he also wants to buy her farm.

There is an approach to buy the farm from a property developer which is quite a common
occurrence with farming land all over the country?

It is a common occurrence that farming land is being bought up for development. It is another encroachment, a bit like the drugs industry – it is creeping in on the boundaries of Nathan’s property and his life. It is slowly crawling towards him and there is this sort of inevitability that he is resistant to and feels up against it.

How does he deal with that?

He doesn’t deal with it brilliantly. He is not a hero. He is quite bullish and a bit old fashioned. He is trying to borrow money from the bank, and the bank are being picky. But then he borrows money from the big bad wolf.

How is he managing on his own with a teenage son? Does he feel he has lost touch with him, does it worry him this has all happened because he has lost touch with him?

I think it is more confounding than that. That would suggest he knows what is happening. I think it is quite normal for teenagers to conceal what they are up to from their parents. As much as Nathan does try and manage without micro managing, Johnny, he is completely flabbergasted at what has gone on that he didn’t know about.

County Lines crime is UK wide problem why was it set in Wales?

Marc Evans, the director, had this thought that where it is in Wales is kind of border land, and so much of it is about boundaries, and borders, and encroachment, and threat, and it is all sort of tied in together. But county lines is very much a nationwide problem. The way we are telling it, those issues come up.

It was filmed entirely on locations in Wales with a Welsh crew, did you enjoy filming in the country?

I really enjoyed filming in Wales. The locations were beautiful. I like being on a farm and being in the countryside. I was in my element and the horse was lovely. She was so sweet natured and I think all the crew wanted a horse by the end of the filming, and I wanted to take her home with me.

Can you empathise with the pressures Nathan is facing as someone who has had livestock?

Totally, having given it a go, and faced the economics of it square on when we used to farm with livestock.

Do you still have livestock?

I have other people’s livestock on our land. We concentrate on the hay and the haylage now.

I have three cows left and I’ve promised them they can stay where they fall. I am glad I did it, it was a great experience.

How did you get on with Louis Ashbourne Serkis who played your son?

Louis is brilliant, he shows the vulnerability of his character so well.

He is terrific, he is a real discovery. For a nineteen year old he is a really accomplished actor. He does loads. He comes from that acting dynasty (Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne ). He has a very easy charisma to him that makes him hugely watchable, and he’s the nicest lad, a real gent. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

He is clearly well parented. He has impeccable manners. He is polite and courteous to everyone and conducts himself so well.

What’s next ?

I’m filming another three part documentary for ITV about the Islands of the Atlantic. And I have written a book about heroic service animals – Meetings with Remarkable Animals, which was published in early November.

The first episode airing at 9pm on Sunday 19th January on ITV1 and ITVX. The second episode will arrive on Monday 20th January at 9pm.