The role that almost drove me crazy 

Portraying a Falklands war hero gave Colin Firth nightmares. He's much happier as a murder suspect!

Drama 
Ruth Rendell Mysteries: Master of the Moor 
ITV, Friday 
 

New three-part psychological thriller. A man's premonition comes true when he finds the body of a murdered girl. 

TV Times FIVE-STAR RATING **** 

With his boyish features, dark brown eyes and manly 6ft 1 in frame, it's not surprising that Colin Firth has become known for playing dashing heroes and handsome ladies' men. He was a compulsive womaniser in the film Valmont, based on the same play as Dangerous Liaisons, and became the most envied man in Britain when he seduced Catherine Zeta Jones in the BBC drama Out of the Blue. 

But there's nothing heroic about his latest screen character, furniture repairer Stephen Whalby, who is suspected of being an obsessive killer in the new three-part Ruth Rendell Mystery, Master of the Moor, beginning on ITV on Friday. 

'This guy wears an anorak and isn't at all handsome,' laughs Colin, 33. 'He's not much of a ladies' man either - he's been married for four years and his wife is still a virgin.' 

Colin found playing an unattractive character a liberating experience. 'I feel silly playing these heroic types but I found that I could really get into Stephen's character because I wasn't at all concerned about what I looked like. He's a bit of a social misfit, and I got to understand him - and to like him. He's pretty heroic in his own quiet way.' 

To date, Colin is best known for his portrayal of soldier Robert Lawrence in the controversial drama Tumbledown, about the Falklands war: The part had a profound effect on him - for three years afterwards he was haunted by nightmares. 'I was worried about my sanity,' he confesses. 'I really felt as if I'd experienced all these terrible things. It messed my head up a bit. 'Since then, I've constantly asked myself the question: Is acting worth it? On the one hand it's not, but if another part like Robert Lawrence came along, I don't think I'd be able to turn it down.' 

His sanity is perfectly safe in his next role as romantic hero Mr Darcy in a BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, currently being filmed. While on location for the series he mixed filming with fatherhood - his three-year-old son William stayed with him for three and a half months.

William's mother is actress Meg Tilly, who went to Canada after she and Colin split up. Colin is reluctant to talk about the split, but it's clear how much he loves William. 'It was terrible when he went home,' he says. 'I missed him badly. But to him, travelling all the way to England is a big adventure.'