Phil Davis tells us about his role as bad-tempered DS Miles in ITV1's gothic drama series Whitechapel and why Miles is trying to sort out Chandler's love life! How does Miles feel about Buchan (Steve Pemberton) getting involved in every case this series? “Miles’ relationship with Buchan is as difficult as it ever was. Miles is very skeptical of Buchan’s contribution to these investigations. If it was up to him, he’d have Buchan turfed out of the basement and sent home.” The series is particularly gory – this week’s episode features severed body parts. Are you at alll squeamish? “The art department came up with a very fine headless torso, but it made if very difficult to film because it was a bit too gruesome. Fortunately, I’m not particularly squeamish.” Are you like Miles in any way? “Miles is irascible, short-tempered and difficult. As you can tell, I’m nothing like that!” Miles and Chandler are like chalk and cheese, aren’t they? “His relationship with Chandler has changed since the first series where he was opposed to Chandler coming anywhere near Whitechapel. But at the end of the Ripper story, Chandler did save his life.” Are they becoming friends? “There is a sort of friendship although it’s still difficult and it does get challenged in this series. Miles becomes interested in Chandler and realises that he’s probably quite lonely. He’d like to see him have a relationship with someone so he’s disappointed when it doesn’t happen. There’s a bit of social engineering going on with Miles trying to give Chandler a happier life.” Do you enjoy the black humour between them? “Part of the fun of playing it is when they’re disagreeing. They have very different ways of conducting an investigation. That provides a lot of the drama and a lot of the fun.” Are your kids allowed to watch the show? “My son is 15 and he loves horror movies so he gets a special dispensation to watch this series. I do have to negotiate with his mother, though.” Who is your favourite TV detective? ?> “Apart from Miles and Chandler? Sherlock Holmes. I was in the very first episode of Sherlock so I’m biased, but I think it’s a fantastic show. There are similarities between Chandler and Sherlock. They’re both weird and can’t have a life outside of their work.” Whitechapel screens on Monday at 9pm on ITV1
