But comedy, that's hard

He’s received plenty of acclaim and accolades for heavyweight drama roles over the years – but Timothy Spall says ‘tragedy is a piece of piss’… at least compared to comedy.

The actor, who first came to wide attention in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, says: ‘There's an expectation, that's the problem with comedy. If you put it on the front of the thing, people expect it to be funny. So the stakes are high.

‘Tragedy is a piece of piss. If people leave a comedy miserable, we think, "Oh, no, I think we just better cut that…"’

The Sixth Commandment and Wolf Hall star was speaking to promote the new BBC comedy-drama Death Valley, in which he plays a reclusive retired actor, known for a hammy detective role on TV, who starts helping the police with real cases in South Wales.

He said the character is ‘itching to use his psychological skills as an actor, which he rather holds slightly conceitedly’. 

In the show his character John Chapel is paired with an ambitious young detective, Janine Mallowan, as played by Gwyneth Keyworth.

He said of their relationship: ‘Often you get one who's eccentric and one who isn’t, but these two are both eccentric. 

"There's a huge generational gap between them but there really isn’t any gap as to where they are emotionally.

‘There’s an odd sort of sibling quality about them. They're both very rude to each other. They're both immediately honest with each other, and they can both see each others’ faults, but they don't see their own.

‘Similarly with their abilities as detectives. They're incredibly clever and that opens up a really good crossover between them. There’s no him patronising her, and her of thinking "ohh, this is a silly old man" approach. 

‘It's almost like a meeting – I don't wanna get too profound – a meeting of souls.  They're really attracted to each other as as as souls. Not in any way physical or anything like that. It opens up a lot of hidden affection.’

Speaking at the launch of the show, series creator Paul Doolan explained his ethos is writing it, saying: ‘If you look at a lot of modern murder shows, they're just relentlessly grim.

‘I know murder's not, the funniest thing in the world, but still, you have these detectives who have a horrible home life and they just scowl and everything’s grey, and I think we just want a bit of comedy.'

Death Valley begins Sunday May 25 on BBC One.

Published: 15 May 2025