Freema Agyeman and Jamie Bamber return as prosecutor Alesha Phillips and DS Matt Devlin for another hard-hitting series of Law & Order: UK. Here, they tell TV Choice what to expect…

This show is based on America’s Law & Order series. So how does that background make it different to other British crime dramas?
Freema Agyeman: I think the pace is different. Looking at the American format, one thing that strikes you is how fast it moves, how slick it all is. Every scene is stripped back to the bare essentials, which is the information that needs to be passed over. In 45 minutes, you’ve got to get from a crime to a conviction, but not make it feel rushed. So it moves at such a quick pace, but a lot of things compliment that. There’s a lot of hand-held camera work and footage shot on the streets.

In this series, Matt Devlin has to deal with difficult personal issues when one of his friends is killed. Do we see a new side to him?
Jamie Bamber: The characters are normally like icebergs, you only see the bit of them that involves their work, in detective mode. But in that episode, a lot of who Matt is is brought into question. He’s chosen not to acknowledge quite a traumatic childhood.

How do you feel about the American version being cancelled?
Freema Agyeman: In our first year, [creator] Dick Wolf and all the American cast were in Monte Carlo at the film festival because they’d reached 20 years. So me and Bradley Walsh [who plays DS Ronnie Brooks] went, and spent three days with this amazing group of people. And this year I was thinking, 'Yes, we get to do that again,' but then I heard it was cancelled. So I imagine Dick wasn’t in the party mood.
Jamie Bamber: I don’t really view it as a cancellation. It’s a crowning glory to have done 20 years, and to have gone out as one of the longest-running dramas. Dick Wolf has changed so much on US television. We’ve been able to do the original show justice, and the public has responded to it. Hopefully, Kudos [the show’s production company] will get many years out of Law & Order: UK.

So you don’t think it will impact on your viewers?
Jamie Bamber: No, most of our viewers have never watched the American show. We’ve reached an entirely different audience.

Jamie you’re married with three young girls. What’s it like being the only bloke in the family?
Jamie Bamber: I really enjoy it, to be honest. I grew up as one of seven — I had five brothers and one sister — so it was a very male-dominated family. But I just love having daughters. They’re so much more emotionally intelligent. They ask me how I am. That’s a question I didn’t expect from a child. But they’re great fun and I adore them.

By David Collins