THE stars of Bergerac flocked to the Jersey Opera House for a red carpet première of series two of the reboot of Jersey’s most famous detective.
Damien Molony, who plays Jim Bergerac, joined an assorted cast of TV personalities – including two breakout stars from BBC’s The Traitors – for a teaser screening of the new series’ first episode.
The audience was then treated to a special onstage Q&A featuring Mr Molony, showrunner Toby Whithouse, and cast members Robert Gilbert and Chloe Sweetlove.
Speaking to the Jersey Evening Post, Mr Molony described returning to the Island to film the second series as “incredible”.
“It was my very first day filming series two on Jersey and I noticed a lot of buses stopping outside our set and a lot of people waving,” he said.
“We were filming in St Brelade’s Bay and a lot of people in the shops, and staying in the hotel there, would come down to set and say, ‘what’s going on, is this Bergerac?’, and would just say lovely things about the first series.”
He continued: “One of the things I’ve noticed about filming here – how proud people are about Jersey, and also proud of Bergerac, just how welcoming they are to me and my family and to the whole cast and crew that came over to make this show.”
The Irish actor said the new series would raise the stakes in showing off Jersey’s “natural beauty”.
“That’s what’s so exciting about coming back for series two,” he smiled. “We get to show off more of the Island, and now PBS has acquired the show in the US, so it’s a great opportunity for people to get to know what I call just the very natural beauty of Jersey.
“It doesn’t need to do anything, it’s just naturally very beautiful.”
The actor added: “I hope, first and foremost, that the people of Jersey will be really proud to see Jersey on screen.
“I think it looks incredible on the show, and fingers crossed if we come back for any more series we’ll get to show off more of the locations.”
The original Bergerac ran for ten series between 1981 and 1991, and Mr Molony said he would welcome the opportunity to continue the latest run: “It’s so rare for a TV series to ever run for ten series anymore – I love coming here and I would love to come back again to do another series.
“You can never tell, so much of it is kind of out of our control.”
While not shooting, Mr Molony – who was staying in Gorey Village – took time to enjoy the many “delights” of the Island.
He spoke in reverent terms about the “incredible” two-for-one oyster Happy Hour at the Moorings Hotel, and visiting Rhona’s for a coffee and bacon sandwich.
Much of his time was spent enjoying jogs along the coast, during which “lots of people would beep their horn and wave at me when I was running, which is always nice”.
The actor heaped praise on his fellow castmates, who now also include legendary comic actor Adrian Edmondson.
“We had such a great life, and he’s a brilliant actor, and [his character] Nigel is just sweet, a gentle soul, very much like Ade,” Mr Molony said.
Mr Edmondson, who was also in attendance at the première, explained that his decision to join the show as the partner of Zoe Wanamaker – who plays Bergerac’s mother-in-law – stemmed in part from a previous rejection.
“I [last] auditioned for the love interest in 1979, for Gail Tilsley’s love interest in Coronation Street, and I didn’t get it,” he laughed.
He last came to the Island over a decade ago, he said, to make a documentary about the Jersey War Tunnels – but spent his spare time this time round enjoying the Island’s more serene side.
“I really liked what I call the Lido,” he said. “If I lived here I’d go there every day.”
The former Young Ones star was not the only one who took the opportunity to enjoy the water.
Chloé Sweetlove, who plays Jim Bergerac’s daughter Kim, said she was known to walk across the street from her room at the Grand Hotel and “take a little sunrise swim”.
Echoing her on-screen father, Ms Sweetlove told of feeling “very welcomed” by Islanders for the second series.
“It’s a very interesting experience to come back – you land in a place that’s already familiar, with people you already know, the dynamics already established, and then you go on this adventure again,” she explained.
As to the show, she suggested the “key is that if you’re invested in characters, if you’re invested in people, you can watch them endlessly”.
“It’s about creating that kind of connection with the audience, and having them root for you, not because you’re a perfect person, but because they can relate,” she said.
As the première drew to an end, Mr Molony suggested one scene for the show that he would like the opportunity to film – one which plays on and corrects one of the famous and most-loved ‘mistakes’ of the original series.
“One location we have never shot, that I hear the most about, is the Tunnel.
“In the old Bergerac, they would drive into the Tunnel and then emerge from the Tunnel to a completely different part of the Island.
“So I would love to do a scene where we drive into the tunnel, and we come out of the tunnel and we’re still in St Helier.
“I would love that,” he chuckled. “I am going to try and fight for that.”
