Move Over, Sherlock! Miss Scarlet and the Duke Star Kate Phillips on TV's Greatest New Detective
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Watch out, TV detectives. On January 17 at 8 p.m. EST, a new face in period-drama mystery solving will peek through the keyhole when Miss Scarlet and the Duke premieres on Masterpiece on PBS.
The series stars Kate Phillips (a veteran of Downton Abbey and The Crown) as Eliza Scarlet, a Victorian-era London woman who decides—against the advice of seemingly everyone she knows—to step into her father’s shoes and take on the family business as a private investigator.
The series is a visual riot, complete with period costumes and sumptuous sets (from upper crust drawing rooms to tawdry nightclubs) and is written with a delicious mix of action and wit to keep things exciting but never procedural.
Here, Phillips speaks to T&C from her London home about why the world needs another detective.
We’ve seen you play characters from different eras before—like Princess Mary in the Downton Abbey movie or Linda Shelby on Peaky Blinders. What draws you to costume dramas?
I love a period drama. The most contemporary work I’ve done takes place in about 1952, and that was The Crown. I do read more contemporary scripts, but I just haven’t convinced anyone to put me in those shows yet. Miss Scarlet is so vivid and has a contemporary feel. I look back and think about how varied my work has been, even though it’s been period drama.
What made Miss Scarlet a character you wanted to play?
I got an email from the team saying they’d love for me to look at the script, which has never happened to me before. I’ve only ever had to work very hard to convince people to give a part to me. This time, it was like a gift. I read the script and fell in love with the part immediately; I couldn’t believe my luck. Then I met Stuart Martin, who plays William Wellington, “The Duke,” and it was a dream come true. We sat down for a read through about a week before we started shooting and looked at each other in fear—neither of us had spoken the lines out loud before, so we were a bit worried that suddenly everyone would regret their decision.
Eliza is unusual in the fact that you see her in the context of Victorian London. You see this feisty woman, trying to be independent, with a huge amount of character. She’s front-footed and very witty but has a huge amount of vulnerability at the same time; she totally recognizes the glass ceiling that she can’t punch though. What makes her so beautiful though is that she refuses to give up. As an audience member, you’re angry for her but you’re also charmed and having a laugh.
Speaking of punching through, you had a number of stunts to do—Eliza jumps from windows and gets into brawls.
I was really looking forward to those days. In a later episode—one that’s much darker and grittier—we realized we needed to tinker a bit with how long and heavy my skirts were, I don’t think I’d have been able to sprint at the pace that they wanted if we hadn’t. That kind of stuff was really fun, and in fact I’ve spoken to Rachael New, who writes the show, and we’re keen to have more of that in season two. It’s fun to run down a staircase being chased by someone scary.
She’s part of a grand tradition of detectives—too smart for their own good, hesitant to get out of the way of danger, a bit of a pain for the local police. Did you think about other great characters when you were playing her?
I started rewatching Sherlock. A few people have made comparisons between the show, which is understandable. He has a supernatural power and thinks in ways that other humans can’t, and in a way Miss Scarlet has the same thing—she’s a brilliant woman in a time when people don’t expect her to be. I watched Indiana Jones films as well; I love characters who give you a wink every now and then.
While you’re waiting to begin filming the second season, do you find any of the character sticking with you? Are you more prone to investigating happenings in your own life?
I’d love if my life was filled with that much drama! What I have taken from Eliza is this desire to succeed and be heard, to not take no for an answer. At times, I think perhaps I should be more like her in a given moment—but not so much that I should be solving crimes.
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