McDonald & Dodds stars on reuniting in “very different” thriller Coma
Jason Watkins and Claire Skinner take a turn away from their police officer characters in Channel 5's Coma.
It's safe to say that new four-part drama, Coma, is quite the turn away from McDonald & Dodds for Jason Watkins and Claire Skinner.
The pair lead Channel 5's new thriller as married couple Simon and Beth but, of course, are known by many as being part of the ensemble of McDonald & Dodds, with Watkins leading as DS Dodds while Skinner is Chief Superintendent Ormond in the ITV crime drama.
Chatting to RadioTimes.com and other press ahead of the release of Coma, reflecting on whether it was easy to join forces again for Coma, Skinner said: “Yes [I find it easy], because in McDonald & Dodds, we’re in a very different relationship and this relationship is very, very different.
"But yes, of course there’s an ease you get with actors over the years. It definitely made it more comfortable. It’s just an ease, isn’t it? Humour always oils the wheels and yes, has felt quite comfortable and nice.”
Watkins explained: “In fact, we’ve worked three times in a row but we can’t talk about the third one. We did McDonald & Dodds, this and then something else.
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"We’ve known each other for ages, we haven’t really worked early on. There are scenes where you really, really felt as we go into the latter episodes, that are really desperate and it’s not comedy, it’s not McDonald & Dodds, it’s something very different.
"We were trying to be very accurate, Claire’s quite forensic, there’s no waffle in terms of need to know what we’re doing.”
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Coma sees Watkins lead the cast as family man Simon who, with wife Beth (Skinner), wants nothing more than to move away from their neighbourhood that has become hit by a wave of petty crime and an intimidating local gang, making life a lot more difficult.
Paired with the loss of his job and growing money worries, Simon comes to a tense showdown with the group's ringleader Jordan (Joe Barber), who won't leave Simon alone and one night, confronts him on his doorstep.
Things go from bad to worse as Simon makes a split-second decision about Jordan, leading him to do some serious work to conceal his actions and try his hardest to retain his new image as a local hero.
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While Watkins and Skinner may next be seen on our screens as a married couple in Coma, McDonald & Dodds season 4 has been confirmed, with filming on the new series having taken place in June 2023 in Bath.
The fourth season will mark the return of Watkins as Dodds and Tala Gouveia as DCI Lauren McDonald, the humorous and unlikely duo who don't share many personality traits but are very good at solving crimes in the Somerset city.
As well as Skinner returning for season 4, Charlie Chambers (EastEnders) will reprise his role as DC Goldie, while Bhavik C Pankhania (World On Fire) joins in the new role of DC Lee.
Coma comes to Channel 5 and My5 on Monday 18th March at 9pm. McDonald & Dodds season 4 is coming soon to ITV1. Catch up on ITVX.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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