Jamie Dornan on his favourite shows and the return of The Tourist | Ents & Arts News

The Tourist was the most-watched drama in the UK in 2022.

Originally intended to be a limited series, the BBC show has swapped Australia for Ireland for its second outing.

It sees Jamie Dornan return as Elliot Stanley, a man who wakes up from a car crash in the Outback with severe memory loss.

Speaking to Sky’s Backstage podcast, Dornan says he pushed for the six-part thriller to be shot closer to home.

“I’ve got to admit that I used whatever power I felt that I had from that first show being a success and being an executive producer on the second series… to my advantage,” he said.

This is not the first time Dornan has played a character with memory loss – he previously portrayed serial killer Paul Spector in The Fall, who claims to have suffered memory loss after he is shot.

But the actor says his character in The Tourist had to be approached differently than any of his previous roles.

“I felt like it was quite liberating actually,” he explained.

“What I loved about [it] is it kept you really present, like every bit of information is true to hearing for the first time and a snippet of the recollection that he has or someone has, or any lead that he has, it is all just like for the first time.”

With the second series relocating to Ireland, it meant a whole new cast and crew for the show.

“We’re a characterful nation and we are also, I think, a pretty funny nation so I was excited to see how that would blend,” he said.

The Tourist also stars Dumplin’ actress Danielle MacDonald who says the series is “genre-bending”.

“Life is full of ups and downs and I love when you can laugh at the darkness. And I think that The Tourist has that in spades,” she said.

Jamie Dornan was recently awarded an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University in Belfast.

He says he plans to get it framed and placed in his office “just so people believe” him.

Reflecting on 2023 in film and TV, the Northern Irish actor picked Slow Horses and The Morning Show as his favourite series.

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

“My wife and I are both Academy members, so we get all the screeners. So we’re just watching unbelievable movies every night,” he said.

The actor selected Todd Haynes’ May December as a recent favourite film along with American Symphony by Jon Batiste.

The first episode of the second series of The Tourist airs on BBC One at 9pm on 1 January. All episodes are also available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 1 January.