Whitstable Pearl EXCLUSIVE: Kerry Godliman ‘We start shooting season three in a couple of months!’

“She’s very independent but also a strong community member in Whitstable, who builds relationships with people. She’s got a strong moral compass that I respect. There’s good and bad and right and wrong and if she sees people being mistreated or misrepresented she feels she has to protect them. She’s quite nosy too, which I can relate to!” 

“Pearl was a police officer when she was younger, then she got pregnant and had to give it up, so she went in a different work-life direction and, actually, she’s really successful with her restaurant, the Whitstable Pearl. It’s a lovely place that she’s built from the ground up; she’s clearly extremely ambitious and capable. But she still has this private desire to be a detective and she thinks this is the only way she can fulfil that.”

“I love the scene where they first meet each other, there’s an attraction yet he really gets on her nerves. I think she’s jealous of him, as he’s got the job she always wanted! He finds her intriguing but also deeply irritating and interfering. They’re both cocky and one gets in the way of the other, but later they begin to recognise the other’s skills and start to need each other more. It’s fun to play, there's a lot of humour and  flirtatious friction between them.”

“She can be quite mischievous and a bit of a rule breaker! Being a private investigator actually gives her a lot of freedom because, when she’s hired to look into something, she isn’t bound by the constraints of the law. She sometimes puts herself in really stupid positions, which is where Mike steps in!” 

“There was one occasion where a stunt double was going to perform the dangerous parts of a fight scene in the sea and I ended up doing it because I got caught up in the moment! It wasn’t genuinely dangerous, but we were quite immersed in the acting and then before I knew it I was in the sea and thinking ‘Oh, hang on, there’s a double for this!’ I really enjoy the physical side of this job and the occasions where we are jumping over fences and running down alleys.”

“Dolly is a very strong personality and really funny. She and Pearl have a great relationship but get on each other’s nerves because they spend a lot of time together. They can really rub each other up the wrong way, but they would kill for each other.”

“With Charlie, you see that the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree! If he’s not covering a shift at the restaurant, he might be on a night watch or doing undercover work for her. We will see him fall in love and prepare to fly the nest. He’s got a few demons, too, because there are things with his dad to come out.”

“Yes, we start shooting season three in a couple of months! We filmed series one almost entirely in Whitstable during lockdown, but by the time we went back for Whitstable Pearl season 2 things had changed quite a lot. Whitstable is a busy and popular town and you don't want to constantly be in the way and under people’s feet. A lot of it is now shot in other parts of Kent or just a bit up the coast where it’s quieter. I think it's a visually beautiful show; it makes me want to move to Whitstable although they probably don’t want any more DFLs!” 

“I am, yes. When I was a kid I used to watch a lot of ‘80s shows like Inspector Morse and Minder with my dad. I enjoyed Agatha Christie films too. I think it’s because crime dramas are like parlour games but with narrative and characters. When Trigger Point was on people were always coming up to me and asking ‘is it so-and-so?!’ We love playing along, guessing and solving riddles.”

“I love the casting and it just gets better and better. In season two [Dynasty legend] Stephanie Beacham guest stars and [Peep Show star] Robert Webb joins as a regular called Tom Grant, who’s a big part of Pearl’s life. We really have a lot of fun with our guest leads because it’s a warm show to be a part of. I really like his world we’ve recreated, there’s a tongue-in-cheek poke at gentrification and a real sense of community. I loved Moonlighting with Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis when I was younger with its humour and flirtation elements, and I lean into that memory quite a lot with Whitstable Pearl… I think when a show’s too earnest, I don’t connect with it as much, it’s the warmth and humour in it that makes this work for me.”