For Gemma Whelan, who plays Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins in the second season of the BritBox police series “The Tower 2: Death Message,” research for her role was unexpectedly eye-opening.
“I was definitely surprised by the number of murders and deaths there are each week in London. How many more there are than we suspect,” Whelan, 42, said in a Zoom interview from her London home, her well-behaved two-year-old son perched on her lap.
“I’d thought like, one a week or one a month. But several? Several times that you just have to deliver a death message and have to confirm that? There’s so much more death and murder and bad [expletive] that happens than whatever you see in the news. Only any of the high-profile cases get through. I thought most people live and let live.”
Whelan’s Sarah Collins is a former Murder Squad detective on the homicide squad in this second season of Kate London’s bestselling trilogy book series “Post Mortem.”
A former cop, London gets points for authenticity and the mindset and contradictions that can come with the job.
“It’s trying to shine a light on the fact that there is trouble” in London’s police force, Whelan said. “People are trying their best and they’ve been under great scrutiny for certain things that have gone wrong over here with certain high-profile cases.
“I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. But I think the police here are largely decent and doing their best.”
“Tower,” she added, “shines a light on the fact there are problems but ultimately, we’re just trying to solve crimes.”
In the first season Sarah Collins seems a lonely lesbian, recently broken up with her partner and adrift. “Tower 2” offers a bit of hope.
“I think she’s kind of married to her job. She’s very dedicated to her work, very by the book. She’s very morally correct. And the ethical codes — there’s not really much nuance in her policing.
“That’s what she comes up against with her colleagues. There’s a bit more space for them to be moving around while she’s very much more like, ‘This is right and this is wrong. And this protocol mustn’t be broken for any reason.’
“So yeah, she’s quite down the line. And, as I say, she’s possibly quite lonely and really takes her job home with her, works extra hours. In Season 2, we find out a bit more about her and why that might be and flesh things out a bit more.”
Which prompts the inevitable query: Will there be a ‘Tower 3’?
“We are very, very hopeful,” Whelan answered, bouncing her boy.
