City steals the show in crime drama

SHE was everything a leading lady is supposed to be: strikingly beautiful, charismatic and endlessly fascinating, the camera simply adored her - so much so that she was at risk of stealing every scene.

• Jason Isaacs admits his performance as Jackson Brodie in the TV adaptation of Kate Atkinson's Case Histories is overshadowed by the city's backdrop

But she also brought with her all the demands and challenges you might expect from a glittering star, so that working with her and around her was never to be taken for granted.

Still, by the time television audiences settle down to watch her latest role on Sunday, her performance will be seamless, timeless and, for those of us who gaze upon her day after day, certainly familiar.

Indeed it might even be slightly distracting - after all, when Edinburgh plays such a dominant role in BBC Scotland's latest crime drama, Case Histories, it's only natural to find yourself gazing at the background and playing 'spot the street'.

Yet for the cast and crew of the new mini-series featuring Edinburgh-based author Kate Atkinson's soft-centred tough nut, ex-Army-turned-private eye Jackson Brodie, the stunning backdrop of the city - in evidence from opening credits that show the castle, the Balmoral Hotel and the spire of St Giles' Cathedral - there always was going to be an extra character in every shot.

The results will hit the screens this weekend, when Jason Isaacs - best known for playing sinister Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films - bursts on to the already packed crime series scene for the first instalment of six one-hour long murder mysteries based around Atkinson's bestselling books, Case Histories, One Good Turn and When Will there be Good News?

And even the 47-year-old star admits that jostling for space in front of the camera with Edinburgh reclining in the background was a challenge.

"Edinburgh has slightly upstaged me and become a major character in the piece, which I'm fine with," he says. "It's a gorgeous city. I came here a lot as a student during the festival and I came here as a professional actor as well for the film festival. You just can't take your eyes off it.

"Right in the centre of the town you've got this extraordinary epic hill at one end, and the castle the other end and a huge park. Everywhere you go there is extraordinary architecture and there's history and beautiful greenery and the sea."

Filming took place at the end of last year, at one point hindered - in true leading lady diva fashion - when the city was engulfed in the worst winter weather in decades.

Yet when the cameras did get a chance to roll, Isaacs, for one, was acutely conscious that he was sharing his light with this omnipresent extra. "I keep watching the directors, who seem to frame off centre and it's clear to me that I am in some corner of the screen and the rest of it is taken up by this beautiful backdrop," he recalls.

But while Edinburgh provides a striking backdrop to the action, he insists the real focus for attention is the gripping story. "It's a great city. We're not shooting a travel brochure, though. It just so happens that it's very picturesque."

Indeed, while Case Histories - the title of Atkinson's 2004 novel - shows a more picturesque view of Edinburgh compared to the dark underbelly of Ian Rankin's Rebus, the stories are every bit as gritty and even manage to become just a little bit quirky.

Which could be exactly what you'd expect when you discover Atkinson's books have been given the television treatment by writer Ashley Pharaoh, the creative wizard behind Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.

The first episode goes out on Sunday at 9pm, introducing viewers to tough Yorkshire man Brodie as he solves the mysteries linked to a string of heart rending, sometimes tragic, sometimes light-hearted, tales.

Filming began last October, but unknown to the cast and crew the city was heading towards one of the worst wintry spells on record, a snowfall that would disrupt not only filming, but the entire city for days.

It could have left the production team wondering whether they'd made the right decision to film here rather than in Cambridge, where author Atkinson based the first of her Jackson Brodie novels.

"It may seem strange at first to have relocated from Cambridge to Edinburgh," says the author. "I was concerned that relocation wouldn't work because the book is very Cambridge, but it translates really well.I'm really pleased with the way Edinburgh has come out because it's actually a character in its own right.

"I think commonly when Edinburgh's used in films and in TV, it's this very dark side that's shown.It's often used for period dramas and tough crime shows because it has a sooty look and type of threatening darkness, but there's another side to Edinburgh that's nothing like that at all."

Producer Helen Gregory agrees that the series showcases Edinburgh in all its cosmopolitan glory. "We went with a romantic, European feel to the city rather than saying, 'We're in a gloomy place where bad things happen'. We wanted it too look beautiful, enticing, to sparkle even. This isn't Rankin; this isn't Rebus.Case Histories is about a different kind of place."

But choosing Edinburgh came with its own baggage - including that wintry weather. "We lost a couple of days' filming due to the snow," she adds, "but we didn't go down without a fight. The crew were amazing, literally digging us into locations.

"The cast and director were inspired as we had to relocate a road-rage scene into an underground car park away from the weather."

They had already prepared for shooting in the Capital during late autumn and winter meant certain considerations had to be taken into account, particularly the number of daylight hours required for production. "Even though there is an amazing winter sun in Edinburgh, you can't guarantee that you'll have it," the producer adds. "We were prepared for the fact that our backdrop is often quite dark and looked at ways of constantly keeping colour and warmth alive."

The film crew took full advantage of the city's varied geography too, she adds. "We use the city centre, but we also use the countryside and the coast. To access all of that conveniently in one shoot has been fantastic."

For leading man Isaacs - whose character is often portrayed jogging across the city landscape - the plunging temperatures and the landscape made the physical element of his job all the more challenging. "There's a lot of running around and jumping up and down and diving into freezing cold water and flinging yourself over walls," he explains.

"I'm carrying a bunch of injuries, my achilles is shot from running down this icy street and I fell over this fence and I keep getting kicked and punched and twisted and then I got to go in the ocean, which was below freezing."

But even if the city was a rather demanding leading lady, it's not put the team off. For according to producer Gregory, it could be we've not seen the last of them.

"We are currently developing storylines for a second series," she adds.

• Case Histories, BBC One, Sunday, June 5 and Monday, June 6 at 9pm.

YOUNG TALENT

New BBC drama Case Histories kicks off with private investigator Jackson Brodie taking on the mysterious case of a girl who went missing 30 years ago.

The story takes a twist when he finds himself also helping a grieving father find the man who murdered his daughter.

The action evolves alongside Jackson's own internal struggle to cope with his traumatic past and a future that involves his ex-wife moving to New Zealand with their daughter.

The cast includes veteran actress Sylvia Syms - who plays the part of one of private eye Brodie's clients - and Amanda Abbingdon, wife of comedy actor Martin Freeman, who plays Lothian and Borders DI Louise Monroe.

There's also a role for Edinburgh schoolgirl Stella Hetherington, above, aged eight, who was plucked from school drama productions to appear alongside the actor she knows better as Lucius Malfoy. Stella was chosen for her part after the production crew scouted for talent at Mary Erskine and Stewart's Melville Junior School.

It was a second opportunity for her to perform on a major stage - she'd already cut her theatrical teeth appearing in the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Playhouse last year.

As filming started last Autumn, Stella revealed how she was enjoying the perks of being an actress with a major production: "I've even got my own trailer with a sofa and TV, and everyone's been really nice," she said.

"They want you to do lots of different takes all the time, and it isn't like being on stage, but I've really liked it and I think it's been more fun."

Stella, who lives with mum Patricia, dad Tod, both 46, and brother Olle, ten, in the West End, plays the role of one of four young sisters in segments of the drama which are set in the 1970s.