John Nettles originated the role of Jim Bergerac (Image: Handout)
John Nettles gave Damien Molony his blessing after learning he would be taking over the role of the iconic Jim Bergerac.
Brassic star Damien, 40, is stepping into the shoes of the legendary police officer in the upcoming reboot, released today on . John, 81, originated the role of Jim Bergerac in 1981, portraying the role for nine series on One until 1991.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk and other press at the show’s premiere, Damien revealed the two had lunch a few weeks prior, where John shared a heartwarming sentiment with him.
The Irish actor said: “We had lunch about three weeks ago in Torquay which was lovely. We just talked about our experiences in Jersey and all the great restaurants we used to go to and all the same beaches.
“And then he said this lovely thing at the end. He said, ‘Bergerac has been so good to my career, I hope it’s as good to yours’. That was a really lovely sentiment. He’s seen the first episode and he really liked it.”
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Damien Molony portrays Bergerac in the reboot (Image: UKTV)
In the original series, Bergerac would tackle a new crime each episode, however, the reboot looks at just one case – the murder of a young woman and abduction of her infant daughter.
Back in the ’80s, it was Bergerac’s struggle with alcoholism that cast doubts over his ability to work as a detective. This time around, Bergerac battles the same demons, but it stems from losing his wife.
Explaining how he felt about bringing the character back to life, Damian said: “Everyone loves Bergerac. Everyone loves the original Bergerac and so starting a new job after all that positivity that came from the announcement of the show, people were just so happy to have Bergerac back.
“The mention of Bergerac has this nostalgic reminder of Sunday evenings at home with your family, at home watching the original series.”
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John said he hopes Bergerac has the same impact on Damian’s career as it did on his (Image: BBC)
Despite wanting to pay homage to the original series, Damian recognised that certain things had to be changed to bring in a new audience.
He added: “You want to pay homage to that and honour that, which I think Toby [Whitehouse] has done so brilliantly with these wonderful little references to the original, so that pays homage to the old series and to that audience.
But then you also have to bring in a new audience and so that was the great challenge. I was so excited to start the job and meet all these wonderful people.”
Damian revealed he was in London when he found out he’d landed the role of Bergerac. “I screamed, obviously,” he recalled. “Then I hugged my wife and kids and then I rang my dad. It was great.”