Season 3 of Miss Scarlet and the Duke will return to UK screens very soon, with fans getting another six episodes of the historical criminal thriller with a generous side dish of love tension.
Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, The Crown) returns as fearless female detective Eliza Scarlet, with Stuart Martin (Army of Thieves, Jamestown) as her childhood friend, foil, and will-they-won’t-they love interest, Inspector William ‘The Duke’ Wellington.
Season two saw the couple work their way through cases including extortion, a Charles Darwin sketch, and fiction-inspired crimes, all while convincing themselves that they could (and should) only ever be friends.
This time, we have magicians, explosives, and a character from Eliza’s youth threatening to complicate everything.
We sat down with series protagonists Kate Philips and Stuart Martin to delve into Eliza and William’s brains and attitudes ahead of the season three debut.
‘In season one and two Eliza and William have come a long way and a lot has been said – but not quite been said. I feel like they’re both in a place where they know of each other’s feelings,’ Martin said.
‘We’ve had so many moments where they’ve got so close to kind of saying it and verbalising that… but they don’t quite get there. But everyone knows where they’re at and so, with season three, I feel like we get to jump into that really nice place where it’s all kind of on the table and it kind of rears up at times but also is really suppressed at times.’
Teasing the ‘lovely stuff’ that fans can expect, he added: ‘There’s a couple of revelations. And I think, career wise, the two of them have also come a long way since we first – especially Eliza, she has come so far. Yet still, they’re both butting up against where they want to be, and really should be, and so that’s where we that find them in season three.
‘It’s all bubbling, which is really fun place to be.’
Eliza and William’s regular fun friction is also there in the newest set of episodes, aided by her perseverance with cases and his irritation when she breaks the rules and complicates (or beats) Scotland Yard.
‘That sparring is really fun because it’s fuelled by an affection, maybe a love, but that tension is always really fun to play because it also gives you somewhere to go,’ explained Phillips.
‘And they both like it, don’t they?’ Martin said. I believe we both – or at least I – realised that being cranky is something they love, just like we do.
‘A lot of the times, it’s really light when they are poking fun at each other, and teasing each other, as well as when they’re sort of a little bit miffed with each other. But it’s fun, the sparring – it’s like fencing and parrying and they both really enjoy that challenge and that banter.’
It was almost ripped away from them last season, when it appeared that William might be forced to accept a promotion that would take him away from London and to Glasgow.
‘When Duke goes to leave, I think it’s a big realisation for them both. You know, when you sort of pull that rug away, what do you really want in life? And I think it is a big realisation at the end of season two,’ Martin revealed.
Season three features Arabella Acaster (Sophie Robertson), a restaurant owner and Eliza’s old school classmate from when she was a little child, who compels the private detective to examine her own feelings more thoroughly when she becomes engaged with her new life.
‘It’s a really good opportunity to see a little bit more of where Eliza came from and kind of the context she’s working with. It also was incredibly fun to play those scenes!’ shared Phillips.
‘But it’s also a new dynamic because you’ve never seen Eliza have to… It throws up a lot of stuff for her that she has to work through. It’s helpful because I think she’s super bright, she knows what she wants. But in terms of understanding her feelings, she just doesn’t really understand any of that and it really requires her to look at some stuff and work out how she feels about Arabella, and Arabella in relation to the Duke.’
She added: ‘It’s really challenging. And in terms of being a woman, it was great for me. I could lean on some girl stuff – it really threw up some stuff for me, too, you know, not being the cool girl at school.
‘So, I really enjoyed mining all of those feelings that come up for Eliza. She’s so determined and so articulate and she’s so ready to fight, but I really enjoyed showing that vulnerability and that open side of her where she’s prepared to open up to [housekeeper] Ivy (Cathy Belton) about how she feels.’
Martin and Phillips, who are returning to portray their roles, are full of praise for series creator Rachael New and co-writer Ben Edwards, and how they help the actors build William and Eliza up further each time.
‘They change it so subtly and reveal different parts of these characters,’ said Martin. ‘A lot of that, when you come back every season, is so exciting and so different.
‘You also have that lovely thing of having more behind you to allow you to sort of go, “Oh, I like this! What else is there that we can mine in that? So, it’s a great thing to come in each season and challenge yourself and go, “Yeah, this is the sort of avenue I’d quite like to take him [down] this year.”’
In terms of what UK fans can expect from season three, Phillips offered: ‘You can expect lots of fun, you can expect a really thrilling series of more of the same fabulous stories and stand-alone episodes. But the thing that you’re going to really invest in is the journey between Eliza and William.’
Martin added: ‘We’ve come on such a journey with these two and now it’s kind of known where they’re both at. It’s just right on the surface and I think we’re in a really exciting place that it can sort of only go forward.
‘So. there’s more revelations and just lots more of all the stuff we love, really!’
Miss Scarlet and the Duke returns to Alibi on April 11 at 9pm, with all six episodes available on Sky, Virgin and NOW.
Source My Celebrity Life.