Katherine Kelly detailed her struggle to accept Kit Harington’s storyline in Criminal: UK’s second season, which sees him play a man accused of rape by a colleague.
The actress, 40, spoke candidly with MailOnline in an interview alongside her co-stars Lee Ingelby, Rochenda Sandall and Shubham Saraf, and discussed playing Detective Natalie Hobbs opposite the Game Of Thrones star, 33.
In the episode, Kit’s character, Alex Daniels, insists he’s being falsely accused of rape and what follows is an intriguing examination of how frustrating it can be for police to try and handle a case such as his, when it’s his word against the alleged victim.
‘I found it a really difficult thing to have to accept’: Katherine Kelly detailed her struggle with Kit Harington’s rapist storyline in Criminal: UK as she discussed season two with MailOnline
Describing how the storyline subverts expectations, Katherine explained: ‘It’s not a clean-cut result at all, which is unusual for the show.
‘For me, I didn’t particularly find it [flipped the #MeToo movement on its head], what it did was highlight how difficult it is to prove, and have evidence of, sexual assault.
‘In most of the episodes we just need [the suspects] to keep talking so that we can get as much evidence as possible, whereas in this case there is no evidence that’s going to tell us one way or another so we actually really do need a confession.
Plot: In the episode, Kit’s character insists he’s being falsely accused of rape and what follows is an examination of how frustrating it can be for police to handle a case such as his
‘We are sort of harder in a moral fashion with him than we are with most of the other episodes. I thought that that to me shed another layer of light on how complicated and hard it is to get [a conviction].
‘We hear on the news regularly about these kinds of cases and them not getting convictions and them not getting to court, and it shed a bit more light on why that is the case, and how hard it is to get some evidence together.
‘How you can misread texts like “he kissed me”, and how that gets read and interpreted, I found it a really difficult thing to have to accept actually. Because it shouldn’t be that way, should it? But it is.’
Storyline: Describing how the storyline subverts expectations, Katherine explained: ‘What it did was highlight how difficult it is to prove, and have evidence of, sexual assault’
Challenge: She added, ‘We hear on the news regularly about these kinds of cases and them not getting convictions and them not getting to court, and it shed a bit more light on why that is’
Lee, who plays Detective Tony Myerscough in the police drama, went on: ‘I’m all for doing something that raises questions, where you think something is going down one way and then suddenly your assumptions are questioned.
‘I think there’s been people saying it might be a bit controversial but why not, that’s what the arts are all about, sort of presenting something that doesn’t sit comfortably so yea, I think it’s great.
‘It was an exciting script to read when I read it, none of us knew who was going to play at that point but it’s definitely a role that’s going to take some chutzpah and Kit delivered brilliantly, as all the guests did.’
Candid: Katherine said of how difficult it is to get a conviction in a sexual assault case, ‘I found it a really difficult thing to have to accept actually. Because it shouldn’t be that way, should it?’
Different take: Lee Ingelby (R), who plays Detective Tony Myerscough in the drama, went on: ‘I’m all for doing something that raises questions’
While the first season featured the likes of David Tennant, Hayley Atwell, and Youssef Kerkour in the hot seat, the second finds Kit, Kunal Nayyar, Sharon Horgan, and Sophie Okonedo as potential suspects.
Of the quartet’s impressive performances, Lee went on: ‘I think they’re all playing against what they’re normally known for and they were all a delight to work with this year, not that they weren’t last year, they were just all great.
‘All very different, each story is different, sometimes there’s a different energy in the room depending on what the story is but it was good, it was fun, always is.’
Thoughts: Lee added ‘There’s been people saying it might be a bit controversial but why not, that’s what the arts are all about, sort of presenting something that doesn’t sit comfortably’
Unexpected: Season two features Kit, Kunal Nayyar (pictured), Sharon Horgan, and Sophie Okonedo as suspects, and Lee said: ‘they’re all playing against what they’re known for’
Going on to discuss her thoughts on portraying challenging storylines such as Kit’s on screen, Katherine went on: ‘I think it’s boring if not, I’ve got a six and three year old and it’s like reading a children’s story
‘”The goodies did this and the baddies did this” and actually the closer that line is between good and bad the better, the more exciting I think.’
Meanwhile Rochenda, who portrays Vanessa Warren in the Netflix show, takes centre stage in the second season’s first episode, as she faces Sophie’s character, an emotional wife discussing her husband’s murder investigation.
Prominent role: Rochenda Sandall (pictured) takes centre stage in the season two’s first episode, as she faces Sophie’s character, a wife discussing her husband’s murder investigation
Gushing: Of acting alongside her, the Line Of Duty star said: ‘Sophie (pictured) has been a role model for me… so to work opposite her was just amazing, such a brilliant experience’
Of working opposite her, the Line Of Duty star gushed: ‘Sophie, particularly, has been a role model for me, watching her as a small girl, really.
‘Hotel Rwanda, Winnie Mandela, some of the amazing theatre shows that she’s done. She’s just such a powerhouse.
‘So to work opposite her in particular was just amazing. Such a brilliant experience. This show brought me that, so I’m very very grateful.’
While she said of other the show’s other guest stars: ‘Also to see Sharon, Kit, Kunal doing something so massively different to what they’re currently involved with [was interesting].
Experience: Shubham Saraf (pictured), who plays Kyle Petit, said of the guest stars: ‘I feel quite new on the block so it was cool to be up close and personal with such amazing actors’
Delighted: Shubham added: ‘My job as a character is to watch them really closely through glass, to me it was really cool, I felt lucky to be in the room’ (pictured: Sharon Horgan)
‘Particularly with Kunal and Kit, they’ve been tied to shows, Kunal was nearly 12 years on The Big Bang Theory and Kit was pushing nearly 10 years with Game of Thrones, so it’s great to see them get excited about a new adventure, new character.’
While Shubham, who plays rookie officer Kyle Petit, added: ‘For me because I feel quite new on the block, I’ve only been working a couple of years, it was cool to be so up close and personal with such amazing actors, and get to watch their work at such close proximity and just learn the craft.
‘Literally my job as a character is to watch them really closely through glass, to me it was really cool to be that character, I felt lucky to be in the room.’
Criminal: UK season two launches on Netflix on September 16.
One to watch: Criminal: UK season two launches on Netflix on September 16