I'm a Celeb star's big-money drama starring Harry Potter and Happy Valley actors

Matthew Lewis dove deep into Reverend Richard Coles’ Canon Clement Mysteries to bring Canon Daniel Clement to life in 5’s new crime drama Murder Before Evensong.

“I’m a big reader, so I’m a stickler for the source material with any adaptation,” Matthew Lewis says, “I wanted to bring as many elements of Daniel from the book as possible and be true to him.”

The Harry Potter alum steps into the role of Canon Daniel Clement, Rector of Champton St Mary, the heart of Coles’ series set in the 1980s.

Reverend Richard Coles' first book of the series, Murder Before Evensong, hit the shelves in 2022, two years before the author appeared on I'm A Celebrity.

“I spent a lot of time chatting to Richard about Daniel, to find out about his life and how he’s reached where he is, and Daniel isn’t Richard,” Matthew says. “Richard’s very adamant Daniel isn’t him. That said, there is perhaps a little more of Richard in Daniel than he realises.”

Still, Matthew admits that Coles’ world wasn’t always easy to crack. “Richard is incredibly intimidating to talk to, because he’s so intelligent, learned, and well read, and there are random French and Latin phrases littered throughout the novel,” Matthew says.

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“At no point does he explain them or give translations, assuming the reader will know what they mean, so on several occasions I asked what they mean.”

Matthew is joined by Amanda Redman, who plays Daniel’s mother Audrey - the one person who truly tests his patience. She makes a surprise entrance in the series opener and resentment bubbles between them.

“Audrey loves Daniel very much but she’s of a generation that weren’t particularly tactile or effusive towards their children,” Amanda says.

“They have a slightly strained relationship, but they’re very alike.” Their complicated bond simmers with tension. “She wants to be there for him, she wants to be needed,” Amanda says.

In Murder Before Evensong, Daniel is already grappling with parish tensions after suggesting something as simple as a church lavatory. But when he discovers the body of Anthony, a local researching Champton’s wartime history, events take a darker turn with the investigation putting Daniel under scrutiny.

Enter DS Neil Vanloo, played by Amit Shah. “In one particular scene I have to take someone down when they’re on the run, although we used a stunt double and intercut with close-ups of me struggling to handcuff the suspect on the ground,” he says. “There was some stunt driving, too, which usually makes me anxious as I need to wear glasses, but for this job I used contact lenses.”

Despite the physical demands, Amit relished Neil’s unusual dynamic with Daniel. “I challenge anyone to not be able to get along with Matt, because he’s so friendly and easy-going, so finding Neil’s chemistry with Daniel was very easy,” Amit says.

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