Tin Star Liverpool: Tim Roth and Genevieve O’Reilly on the third and final series of the gritty drama

In a television landscape driven by ratings, where existing IP is valued more highly than original ideas, it’s unusual to know for sure that a show is coming to an end.

But Sky Atlantic’s Tin Star is going to finish with its third series – and it’s got star Tim Roth feeling a touch emotional.

The 59-year-old actor told Sky News’ Backstage podcast: “There was a sadness about it for me, I must say, because it was, you know, drawing to an end and our relationships drawing to an end or that phase of them.

“It made me sad, I have to say when it was wrapped up… it got to me. But it was always going to be three [series].”

The first two seasons of the gritty crime drama was about a family on the run, but this final series sees them returning to the UK to confront their past.

Genevieve O’Reilly, who plays Roth’s wife in the show, agreed it’s not been easy to bring it to a close.

She told Backstage: “At its centre, and I think this is what Tim was talking about when he said it was hard to say goodbye, I think at its very centre, amid the chaos is a little family who love each other very much.”

That little family is made up of characters played by Roth, O’Reilly and Scottish actress Abigail Lawrie.

O’Reilly says their closeness on-screen is replicated off camera as well.

“We just have a really, really tight bond, we still have it over Zoom or WhatsApp or whatever, we really formed very special connections,” she explained.

“For the first couple of series, we were all away from home, we were all creating together – it’s really exciting to be at the hotbed, at the coalface of some sort of creativity with a new group of people.

“And I think the three of us just connected there in a really lovely way… I miss them.”

The season sees the drama upping sticks and leaving the wide expanses of the Canadian Rockies for the bustling port city of Liverpool.

Roth says the northern city was the obvious place to choose as their location for this part of the story.

“Liverpool was somewhere I’ve worked in previously – I did a thing called Reg – and that’s why I thought well Liverpool will be great, it’s right on the water, a straight shot to Ireland for Jen’s (O’Reilly’s) character, and it’s outside of London, it’s its own city,” he said.

“And it’s incredibly diverse and wild and has a comedic – it’s a stereotypical version of Liverpool – but it’s funny too, and quite beautiful.”

“So, it seemed like a great place to give us, give us roots in a sense, and also put us on the front foot and attack like crazy.”

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O’Reilly said now feels like a good time for Tin Star to return, while viewers are looking for escapism.

“I’ve been really finding myself delving into a lot of television and so I think it’s a great time to come out,” she said.

“I think it’s wild and adventurous and funny and brave, and I think that’s a great way to escape right now.”

But Roth admits he won’t be watching as he tries to avoid seeing himself on screen.

“I’ll probably watch the beginning and the end or something like that, but no I don’t watch stuff [I’m in]… It makes me too nervous,” he said.

“And as soon as you’ve done it, it’s not yours anymore anyway. It’s for critics, or the audience, it’s not for me to have an opinion about really.”

Roth has started working on new projects, and like everyone he’s getting used to doing things virtually, rather than in person.

He suspects some of the things that have changed due to the coronavirus pandemic, won’t be returning to the way they were.

“I do think it will mean less travel after the plague is done,” he said.

“This [talking over Zoom] will become the habit, I think, of a lot of people because you’re tucked away and you can’t get to such and such a place, and here we are, we can all talk.

“So, yeah, it’s the new normal, I don’t find it a problem – except it’s whether you’re on mute or not, that’s about as is as bad as it gets.”

Tin Star: Liverpool is streaming now on Sky Atlantic. Hear more about the show in this week’s Backstage Podcast.

(c) Sky News 2020: Tin Star Liverpool: Tim Roth and Genevieve O’Reilly on the third and final series of the gritty drama