Adrian Scarborough: Max has 'cracking chemistry' with new partner in 'Chelsea Detective' S2

NEW YORK, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- A Very English Scandal and Killing Eve alum Adrian Scarborough says the light-hearted tone of his Acorn TV series, The Chelsea Detective, distinguishes it from other, more dour cop dramas.

"You have to have a sense of humor to work in this sort of environment because, if you didn't, you'd just go down so quickly. You have to be able to crack a gag occasionally or have a smile about certain things," Scarborough told UPI in a recent phone interview.

"We found in Season 1 a color that we really really liked, that we thought that the audience would enjoy and, also, we didn't want it to be unrelentingly grim," he said. "We were very aware of that and we thoroughly enjoyed exploiting it."

Season 2 premieres Monday and finds Scarborough's Detective Inspector Max Arnold still estranged from his wife and living on a houseboat.

This time around, however, he is paired with a new police partner, Detective Sgt. Layla Walsh, played by Vanessa Emme.

"The two of us have a cracking chemistry together. It's not forced at all. It feels very, very natural," Scarborough said of working with Emme.

"She is just great fun to have on set. When you are feeling sort of a little bit weary and the hours are getting to you, she is always upbeat and positive and fun and has a real twinkle in her eye," he said. "I think that comes across on screen."

While Max is "always slightly reserved in his opinions about people," the actor said, "Layla knows he respects her enormously."

Scarborough described the crime-fighting team's caseload this season as "a wonderful mixture" of mysteries that allow the coppers to explore all the different socio-economic levels of the iconic London neighborhood.

"All of our story lines get solved within the episode, [so] it means that we can go anywhere or do anything we like. I really like showing Chelsea's seedy underbelly," Scarborough said.

Plots include an art heist that goes horribly wrong, a grisly murder at a high-end retirement home and a vegetable delivery company that is not what it first appears.

Max's personal life isn't nearly so eventful, as he reluctantly comes to grips with the idea that he is a single man.

"I still think he misses his wife terribly and wishes the breakup were a lot simpler than it is and that he could sort of just walk away and have it all be over and done with and everybody be happy again. But, of course, that's not the sort of emotional world he lives in," Scarborough said.

"He's quite unversed in the ways of marriage and long-term relationships," he added. "They still get on with one another."

Max also enjoys living on his houseboat.

"He quite likes the freedom and coming and going as he pleases and having enough time to do what he does best, which is work on his cases --probably the reason why his marriage fell apart in the first place," Scarborough said.

Acting in the show helped him understand how hard it must be for real police to focus on their personal relationships when the workday is done.

That said, he noted how important it is for people of all walks of life to clear their heads so they can have emotionally fulfilling relationships and the ability to tackle job issues.

"Often a lot of the moments where you get clues to your work is when you are not doing it," said Scarborough, who also is a writer.

"A lot of good things that happen in my life and my career happen when I'm not doing those things. Sometimes, when I'm walking the dog, I'll just have a fantastic brainwave about a piece of writing or an idea for a character or a way into a play."

The cast and crew were more relaxed coming back to work for the second season because the characters and setting had been well-established in the first.

"One of the joys of getting a second series is that everybody feels so much more comfortable and confident in the people that they are playing," Scarborough said.

"The writers feel more confident in who they are writing for because we have all sort of tried it out," he added. "Everybody feels that the public have given it a thumb's up."