It’s 200 years since Charles Dickens was born so expect a wave of programmes, kicking off with a BBC2 adaptation of his only unfinished work, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood. A story of one man’s obsessional love for his teenage pupil, it stars former Brothers And Sisters star Matthew Rhys as opium-addicted choirmaster John Jasper and Dickens veteran Alun Armstrong as kindly lawyer Hiram Grewgious.

So you’re playing a choirmaster and you’re from Wales. That must come naturally to you…
Matthew Rhys: Oh yes, I was raised with it.

But John Jasper’s a bit of a scary character, isn’t he?
Matthew Rhys: Yes, he’s not straightforward, that’s for sure. A huge number of things happen to him and he’s a victim of circumstance. His early life has an incredible knock-on effect for him as a person and sadly makes him a very destructive and dark young man.

And he’s an opium addict…
Matthew Rhys: Yes, and that's coupled with substance abuse. He’s also addicted to laudanum, which was incredibly popular at the time and very potent.

He has a growing hatred of Edwin Drood, his nephew…
Matthew Rhys: He’s envied him from childhood and that jealousy becomes an obsession which intensifies into hatred.

This hasn’t been adapted as much as the more famous Dickens novels, which must be nice…
Matthew Rhys: Yes that’s very true. It feels fresh and new but it’s also particularly dark.

Had you heard of it?
Matthew Rhys: Not really, but when I saw the script I could see it was great. I wouldn’t call myself a Dickens fan, probably a lazy Dickens fan in that I just watch the films. I haven’t read a lot at all.

It’s a complete change from Brothers And Sisters…
Matthew Rhys: Having done that for five years I wanted to do something completely different and you couldn’t get more different than The Mystery Of Edwin Drood.

Why do you think Dickens is still very popular?
Matthew Rhys: Like Shakespeare, he got the human condition very well and people can relate to that.

Did you watch classic costume dramas growing up?
Matthew Rhys: Yes, these and the Jane Austens are an intrinsic part of our culture.

Alun, how would you describe Hiram Grewgious?
Alun Armstrong: I’ve played some strange Dickens characters in the past. Flintwinch from Little Dorrit was pretty horrible, as was Wackford Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby, but Grewgious is the absolute opposite. He’s delightfully warm and eccentric.

What’s Hiram Grewgious' role in The Mystery Of Edwin Drood?
Alun Armstrong: He’s the guardian of Rosa Bud, an orphan and Edwin Drood’s fiancée. He applies himself with great seriousness to the job and is an odd sort of father figure to her.

You’ve been in a lot of Dickens adaptations, would you say this is darker?
Alun Armstrong: Yes, the themes of male dominance, sexual inappropriateness and cruelty are very modern.

Do you enjoy acting in costume drama?
Alun Armstrong: I love it but it’s the variety of roles I enjoy. I’ve been lucky in my career that I’ve been able to do film, TV and theatre too.

What do you love about Dickens?
Alun Armstrong: Every character is brilliant, even the smallest roles are colourfully written with lots of layers. They leap off the page. It’s a win-win situation. Dickens was an amateur actor, it’s probably what he wanted to do.

Is this the novel with the greatest mystery running through it?
Alun Armstrong: I understand Dickens made a deliberate attempt to write a thriller because Wilkie Collins, his friend, had written The Moonstone, which is considered to be the first thriller.

Mary Comerford