Manhunt Nabs Martin Clunes For His First Foray Into Police Work
by Rachel Bellwoar
While Doc Martin isn’t what you’d call a straight comedy, it is fair to say that Martin Clunes (whose played the Doc for eight seasons) is better known for his comedy roles. He’s been in dramas before, but a police detective is still a departure for the actor who once voiced Kipper the Dog, yet as the TV show, Damages, showed back in 2007, casting comedians in dramatic roles can lead to amazing performances. Clunes is no different on the TV show, Manhunt, where he plays DCI Colin Sutton, whose memoir on the investigation into Amélie Delagrange’s murder provides the basis for this series.
Delagrange (Kiera Bell) was killed on her way home one night in August 2004. Sutton lead the search for her killer but, although reluctant to jump to any hasty conclusions, there was always a thought that there might be a connection between her case and some other murders.
Unlike many TV detectives, Sutton doesn’t have any quirks or offensive mannerisms. His home life, while seemingly designed for conflict (his wife (Claudie Blakley) works for Surrey Police, he works for Metropolitan), ends up covering the same grievances you see covered everywhere else. They’re in the same line of work but don’t put the same emphasis on keeping work and family time separate, so where you might think that sharing a vocation would make them more understanding, it doesn’t save them from having fights.
It would be helpful if we knew whether Sutton usually had a tough time detaching or if it’s the pressure of being in charge that’s made him fixate on this case. His team isn’t exactly being supportive and while you always hear that the early hours of an investigation are the most important, his colleagues never give his directions a chance before second guessing them. From the moment he’s given the case people want to take it away from him and while that reaction, in and of itself, isn’t surprising, how early it starts and from all sides is disconcerting.
It’s not like any of Sutton’s orders are completely out of line. He even manages to get results, yet his doubters refuse to be put out. In following this case you also see how the nature of police work has changed and how valuable CCTV footage has become.
In a bonus interview, Clunes and executive producer, Philippa Braithwaite (who are married in real life), talk about developing the series with a focus on authenticity, over getting picked up for a second season, but also in this interview you hear the numbers for how many people tuned in and, since then, it’s been renewed and Clunes is expected to return for the second season. It’s hard to know what a second series of Manhunt would look like. Did Sutton work on another big case and, if not, does that mean they’ll be moving away from basing the season on a true story? Plenty of shows (Big Little Lies, The Leftovers, etc.) have surpassed their source material before, but usually that source isn’t nonfiction.
Manhunt is available on DVD and streaming on Acorn TV. At three episodes it’s easy to binge and should appeal to viewers interested in true crime stories.
