The third episode of crime drama Sherwood has aired and this morning actor David Morrissey joined Lorraine on her ITV morning show to praise the skills of Nottingham writer James Graham. Highlighting deep community divides created by the 1980s miners' strikes and the parallels between today's political scene, David gave an overview of the programme and its background to Lorraine and her viewers.
Sherwood is a six-part fictional crime drama written by Nottinghamshire's own James Graham, and inspired by events surrounding two Nottinghamshire murders which happened back in 2004. The murders re-ignite the historic divisions and tensions of a Nottinghamshire community that has lived through the miners' strikes of the 1980s.
Having starred in The Missing and Living Dead, viewers are used to seeing David in serious roles. In the BBC One show he takes the role of the main Nottinghamshire Police officer on the case, with strong memories of what happened the last time Met officers were on his patch.
READ MORE: Is BBC One's Sherwood a true story? How close is it to real life events that inspired the drama
However, before getting into the nitty-gritty of the show, Lorraine wished David "a happy birthday". She highlighted that he shares his day with Prince William. Thanking the Scottish presenter for her wishes, the actor went on to draw parallels with the current pollical scene and praise the writer for giving a voice to all sides of the Sherwood story.
Set in Nottinghamshire, the drama highlights the divides created within a community during and following the miners' strike. Lorraine pointed out that it still feels very relevant today. Referring to the rail strike, she said: "We are seeing all of these similar, if you like, battles in events today."
David replied: "The hardest place to be is in that centrist, in that middle ground. We seem to be wanting to be in the extremes because we want some sort of certainty... and there is no certainty. That's one of the things about life and where we live, and we have to be able to listen to other sides and have to be able to compromise."
He added: "That middle ground is a hard place to stay at the moment because people are full of fear, they're full of uncertainty in their lives and around their finances and lots of other things environmentally, so they latch on to the extremes and of course the extremes are always on the outside of where real life is."
Asking David if he'd ever though of going into politics, Lorraine said: "You've talked more sense than most politicians I've interviewed in the past have." The actor has previously played Labour politician and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He said that having met a lot of politicians during research for the role. "You do see the hard work and the real day to day stuff they have to do - so I don't envy them," he said. "But they are there for us so we have to keep them honest and on message... I am political, I have a curiosity about life and how it's run but I do think we have to listen rather than shout - this is what is wonderful about James' drama, he gives everyone a voice not just in Sherwood but in his work in the past.. He is showing all sides, it's not a black and white argument in any way, it's a very complex world he presents and certainly that's true of Sherwood.
"It was important for me to talk to people who were there. I mean, I remember the miners' strike... but the research on this showed how much more complex it was in places like Nottingham. Divided families and divided community.
"I spoke to policemen who had been on the picket line in 84 and their brothers would be on the other side or their friends on the other side and they'd spend their day on the picket line and then they'd have to go home or to the pub or whatever, and that's the difficulty in that time. It does still run deep - it is still there in the community and I think James is showing that in this drama."
Sherwood continues on BBC One on Tuesday, June 21, at 9pm. If you miss any of the series you'll be able to catch up on BBC iPlayer. Let us know in the comments below what you think of the show so far.
