“WHAT did you think?”
I can stil remember a nervous Bradley Walsh asking me the question in early 2003.
We’d just watched a press screening of MIT – Murder Investigation Team.
With comedy star, gameshow host and entertainer Bradley playing a very gritty straight role.
His performance alongside former Coronation Street star Tracie Bennett in the harrowing ITV1 story was a revelation. (pic below)
But despite reassurances, Bradley still seemed unsure as he headed off to catch a train for a stand-up gig in Birmingham that night.
A lot of trains have left London’s Euston station since that day.

While Bradley went on to also star in Corrie.
I met him again earlier this month at the launch of ITV1’s Law & Order: UK.
You can read about the new series and his role as DS Ronnie Brooks, alongside Jamie Bamber as DS Matt Devlin, here.
With a pic gallery here.

Also check out the short video interview below.
And if you’ve got a fairly modern PC / video card, you can see the interview in widescreen high definition here – remember to click on the blue “watch in HD” option.
After the screening of the first episode in the new 13-part series, Bradley asked a familiar question.
“What did you think?”
Although I have reservations about parts of the script and the accuracy of the UK law and order mix, I think it’ll be a hit.
With Bradley one of the best things in it.
There’s a feature interview with co-star Freema Agyeman in Monday’s MEN, which will also go online then.
In the meantime, here are a few extras which couldn’t be fitted into the first feature on Bradley:
*His character, at times, wears glasses. Holding his own spectacles, Bradley said: “I have to read charge sheets and stuff on the show and I’m actually far-sighted and I can’t see close-up, so I do have to wear my glasses. But I wasn’t allowed to wear these because there’s a name on the side of them and that would have been product placement. So I had to have another pair made.”

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*Ronnie sports a tweed jacket plus a mac and has a fan haircut. Bradley joked: “I was quite happy with that because originally the character was in his mid-50s. It’s very difficult for an actor like me, who’s just 34, to be able to portray someone of that age. So it all helps.”
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*In the first episode, you’ll see Ronnie question someone in French. “I speak French fluently,” Bradley told me. “But co-incidentally, only them words. That was it. Listen, let me tell you, it took five weeks of filming to get that scene right. It was hard work.”
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*Do other actors every get sniffy about his light entertainment background? “No, not really. I wouldn’t know. They wouldn’t tell me anyway, would they? They’re far too kind,” he laughed.

You can also watch a widescreen high definition version of the interview here.
(After clicking through to the linked page, choose the blue “watch in HD” option)
Law & Order UK: Bradley Walsh