Mark Billingham and David Morrissey in the studio
18 October 2016
Mark Billingham is joined in the studio by acting legend David Morrissey, star of BBC's The Missing, State of Play, Sky1's Thorne and, of course, loved for his role as The Governor in The Walking Dead.
David Morrissey starred in the television adaptation of Mark Billingham's Thorne series.
It seems like it was fate that brought Mark and David together: David had been a fan of the Thorne novels from before Mark had got round to coincidentally stating that he would be his first choice to play the titular lead character. After a chance meeting between David and Mark's wife the rest, as they say, is history.
The two talk further about the process of adapting Mark's crime novels for television and David goes on to explain the process by which he develops his characters... sometimes even going back beyond the character's birth!
We hear about David's work on The Missing and State Of Play, and the hilarious anecdote about a family photograph from Captain Corelli's Mandolin that slipped past the censors.
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Meanwhile, Paul Hirons talks to author Lee Child about the forthcoming Jack Reacher novel and film, and what it's like working with Tom Cruise.
Guest Recommendations
Each episode we ask our guests for a good read and watch, with this episode's focus centering around the leading man. David recommends Fourth Of July Creek by Smith Henderson (Smith's first book we might add!) and the Italian Mafia TV series Gomorrah, which was adapted from a book written by Roberto Saviano. As David goes on to suggest, this one is 'not for the squeamish'.