John Michie: I still get recognised as Robbie Ross from Taggart

Promo shot of John Michie as Fergus Sinclair

John Michie guests in Karen Pirie as businessman Fergus Sinclair. (Image credit: ITV1)

Having played DI Robbie Ross in the popular Scottish detective series Taggart for 13 years, actor John Michie found it a little odd being on the other side of a police interrogation for his latest role in ITV1's Karen Pirie season 2.

"Interviewing as a cop, you're just asking factual questions like 'Where were you on Thursday?'. So it's very strange being questioned but I enjoyed it as that's where acting is full of subtext; it’s all about what you’re not saying," ex-Holby City and Coronation Street star John, 68, says as he joins us for an exclusive chat about this Sunday’s second episode of Karen Pirie, in which he plays Fergus Sinclair, a shady businessman connected to the 1984 kidnap of oil heiress Catriona Grant (Julia Brown) and her son Adam.

Suspecting that whoever kidnapped the pair - the daughter and grandson of oil tycoon Sir Broderick ‘Brodie’ Grant (James Cosmo) - were paid, Karen (Lauren Lyle) turns her attention to Brodie’s right-hand man, Fergus, who was having an affair with Cat and is Adam’s real father. As Karen visits Fergus at Grant Operations, she’s convinced he’s hiding something. John tells us more…

How would you describe Fergus and his relationship to the Grant family?

John Michie: "Fergus is an ambitious businessman driven by money and power. In flashback, we learn young Fergus (Outlander’s Jack Stewart) was in awe of Brodie and somewhat dominated by him. Fergus’s affair with Cat was initially very passionate but didn’t develop into something more because Brodie demanded that all Fergus’s energy went to the company and not his daughter. So Fergus agreed to cover up his relationship with Cat and the fact he’s Adam’s dad for the benefit of the business."

Young Fergus in 1984 kissing Catriona Grant — Young love: Fergus (Jack Stewart) had an affair with Catriona (Julia Brown) back in 1984. (Image credit: ITV1)

Does Fergus feel guilty over how he handled things in 1984?

John: "For decades, Fergus has been in absolute denial about being Adam’s father - but he begins to crack emotionally and has a bit of an internal breakdown where he thinks. ‘What have I done with my life’? He’s full of regret and determined to right the wrongs of the past."

Suspicious of Fergus’s involvement in the kidnap, DI Karen Pirie pays him a visit…

John: "Fergus finds Karen disarming and is slightly unnerved that she’s a young woman doing this job; in many ways, she reminds him of Cat. As a canny businessman, Fergus is used to keeping a straight face but there's something about him that Karen picks up on. He's aware of her calculated gaze towards him, and realises this chat might not go the way he wants it to."

Karen Pirie walking away from Fergus's office as Fergus looks at her. — Is DI Karen Pirie getting too close for Fergus's comfort? (Image credit: ITV1)

Did you enjoy returning to your native Scotland to film Karen Pirie?

John: "Oh, I always look for any excuse to go back! I’m from Edinburgh but Glasgow’s my favourite city, probably as I spent 13 years there doing Taggart - I’m sure the building we used for Grant Operations I’d once filmed in for Taggart. I still get recognised as Robbie and, yes, people often ask me to say: ‘There’s been a murder!’ I loved working with Lauren and the cast and going out in Glasgow with them. One night, we all went to a bar in Finnieston and had a fine time - I can't say more than that!"

What does the Scottish landscape add to crime dramas like Karen Pirie?

John: "As well as Scotland being stunningly beautiful, there can be a ghostly feel to it. There's lots of history and sadness behind the dramatic landscape, which creates an emotive setting for these dramas. What makes Karen Pirie different, though, is that this DI is a young woman, up against the patriarchy. Then there’s our fascination with cold cases; that, 40 years on, the bad guys are going to get caught."

ITV axes Taggart, but show may run on new channel — John Michie played DI Robbie Ross in Taggart for 13 years. (Image credit: Graeme Hunter Pictures)

What are your own memories of the 1980s?

"The miners’ strike of that decade was an interesting time, politically. My wife Carolyn, who I met in 1987, is from a mining village in Yorkshire and I remember the devastation of the pits closing overnight and miners suddenly having no work. In the early 1980s, I spent time in New York, at iconic music venues like Studio 54. It was a memorable decade for me - though I’m pleased to say I never had a bad mullet haircut!"

Karen Pirie continues Sunday at 8pm on ITV1.