With more than two decades of experience under his belt, British actor Kris Marshall has proven his mettle in myriad genres.
Viewers have seen him flex his comedic muscles in “My Family” and “Love Actually” and tackle more serious roles in whodunits like “Murder City”, “Death in Paradise” and its spin-off series, “Beyond Paradise”, which is currently streaming on BritBox.
And he’s also in the period drama, “Sanditon”, which returned for a third and final instalment last Thursday.
Cast as Tom Parker, he is a respected member of the town of Sanditon, more so for his instrumental efforts in putting it on the map as a seaside escape.
In a recent interview, Marshall unpacked his character’s close affinity with the town.
He said: “Tom is in a relationship with two people: one is his wife Mary (Kate Ashfield) and the other is Sanditon. That is alluded to by other characters, even by Mary herself. He has an obsession with the town, and it is everything to him.”
As for his vision for Sanditon, especially over the seasons, Marshall revealed: “Season two was a transitional time for Tom having lost one of his younger brothers. He was lost and under a lot of pressure but ended the season on a triumphant note.
“This season, we find Tom in top form, he can really see his vision of the town coming to life, following the manifestation of the doubt and mourning he experienced at the end of season two.
“Unfortunately, the problem with Tom Parker is that things are never simple with him.”
And this is manifested in the first episode when Tom expresses his keen desire to work with property investor Rowleigh Pryce.
However, the line blurs between his needs and those of the town itself.
He explained: “He is such an inclusive person – he and Mary are the reason Charlotte comes to Sanditon in the first place. They are such an inclusive couple, and I think we all know people like this, who like to draw people into their world.
“Tom is all about bringing people on the ride, I think he sees himself as the Pied Piper!
“He finds it hard to separate the two. This goes back to the obsessive quality he has; he fixates on things which sometimes overtakes his well-meaning persona as a doting husband and hands-on father.”
Naturally, this inability to balance work and family places stress on his marriage.
Marshall revealed: “There’s a real love there on both sides. She lets him get away with murder as she knows who she married. He has previously caused her a lot of pain, but this comes to a head this season.
“She puts up with his idiosyncrasies as she knows deep down his heart is good, but we now see her start to take a stand against him.
“He changes from being a visionary with a well-meaning heart to being quite a hard businessman, who wants to see progress for the sake of progress and is insidious about the pace of growth in the town.”
Marshall also revealed the new characters who will be adding a fresh dynamic to the story arcs.
He said: “We welcome James Bolam who plays Rowleigh Pryce. I grew up in the ’70s/’80s, so James was a huge part of my childhood. I loved watching him as an actor and he has been hugely influential in my career, so it was such an honour to have so many scenes with him.
“We have old friends returning, so to have people like Sophie Winkleman return as Lady Susan, which was fantastic on set. New characters such as the Montrose family bring their own unique flair to the cast.
“You have your core cast members in ‘Sanditon’, but the guest cast is so integral to the storyline.”
Of course, as with any drama series, each character has their own dilemma. And, if you have followed the series, the love triangle between an engaged Charlotte (Rose Williams) and Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes), who tries to move on but struggles to do so, becomes more complicated.
Georgiana (Crystal Clarke) finds herself in a bit of legal bother over her newfound inheritance.
There are also other struggles with some opportunistic individuals trying to curry favour with influential town figures.
Streamers can look forward to being taken on an emotional roller-coaster as tears flow, hearts flutter and dreams flourish.