The Crown actor Jason Watkins has teased his tense new series Coma, which also stars Harry Potter's David Bradley.
Speaking to Alex Jones and Roman Kemp on The One Show ahead of the four-parter's premiere next Monday (March 18), Watkins explained how his "panicky" character Simon lands himelf in trouble when he has a violent encounter with a teenager.
"He's sort of struggling a bit, coping with things. He's having problems at work, he's an older guy in a younger game in a way," the former McDonald & Dodds star began.
Related: The Crown's Jason Watkins opens up about heartbreaking loss of daughter
"He's an ordinary family man and he makes a mistake. He allows himself to get wound up and punches the wonderful Joe Barber who plays this boy [Jordan]."
Watkins added: "He just crosses a line and once he's crossed it, he chooses not to go back and it turns out [Jordan's] dad is connected to gang leaders.
"What I really liked about it is he's just this ordinary guy who gets himself into trouble, and he's not got a superpower, he's an ordinary guy and he's just trying to make decisions and try to do his best to hold his family together."
He also claimed that the thriller drew "a lot of inspiration" from the Michael Caine movie The Ipcress File, and is "laced with comedy".
Related: Jason Watkins admits he had "reservations" about the Are You Being Served? remake
Watkins also shared his experiences working with co-star Bradley, who has garnered major credits in Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.
"We had a trailer next to each other and there was a very small scene," he recalled, "and I remember that I heard David next door going through his lines, getting the best he could be before he went on the set.
"And people think oh well he's David Bradley, but he's still working on it and I think that's brilliant."
Coma airs across four consecutive nights on Channel 5 next week at 9pm.
May 2024 gift ideas and deals
Buy Zendaya's 'I Told Ya' Challengers t-shirt
Best refurbished phones you can buy in 2024
Buy Cat Deeley's This Morning outfits
Shop Sky TV, broadband and mobile
Reporter, Digital Spy
Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
