Jason Watkins has revealed his co-star’s touching tribute to his late daughter MaudeGet daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeMcDonald and Dodds star Jason Watkins has revealed that his castmates from the ITV show paid tribute to his late daughter Maude, who died of sepsis aged two, with a heart-warming gesture. Jason, 61, and his wife Clara, 53, tragically lost their two-year-old daughter Maude to sepsis in 2012, and he has campaigned tirelessly in her memory to raise awareness of the disease. The toddler had been suffering with the flu at the time, however the illness progressed into undiagnosed sepsis, which ultimately ended her life. Speaking ahead of the new series of McDonald and Dodds, Jason revealed that on World Sepsis Day last September, he organised a party in her honour where the cast and crew wore beige outfits, just like Jason’s alter ego Dodds. Jason is grateful for the cast’s support of the cause and was touched when they dressed up like his character.
Jason Watkins’ daughter Maude tragically died aged two after a flu developed into sepsis
(Image: © © Ken Baldry)
Jason Watkins with his wife Clara Francis, who have been married since 2014
(Image: Getty Images)
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He smiled, “A lot of people look good in beige. The Kardashians wear beige. They’ve embraced beige!” And he even went as far to say that if viewers send in their beige knitwear, they could see Dodds wearing it! “Send in your beige!” he laughed. “Send in your unwanted beige and Dodds will wear it!” With its picturesque backdrop of Regency Bath, neatly plotted murders and the quirky chemistry between its two lead stars, McDonald & Dodds has quietly become one of our favourite crime dramas. The ITV1 show, which sees Tala Gouveia’s ambitious DCI McDonald and Jason Watkins’ bumbling DS Dodds solve a different case in each two-hour episode, is returning for a fourth series. But McDonald & Dodds is not just big in the UK and English-speaking territories such as Canada, America and Australia, it has also found fans as far afield as Greece and even Korea. Tala, 40, recalled: “I was in Santorini, up in some mountains, and a little old woman came over with the waiter. She was holding his hand, and he said, ‘Sorry, she wants to know, are you on television?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I’m in a detective show?’ and she was like, ‘Yes!’ I didn’t know it was in Greece!”
Jason stars in McDonald & Dodds with Tala Gouveia
Jason agreed, “It’s everywhere,” he laughed. “I was flying out to Berlin and an Italian stopped me and we had a nice long chat about McDonald & Dodds. The Scandis love it and they love it in Korea. The glory of technology is that they can send you something in Korean and then you can say ‘thank you very much’ and press ‘translate into Korean’ so you come across as super bright.” The new series kicks off with an episode titled The Rule Of Three and focuses on the recent murder of a middle-aged woman. McDonald and Dodds discover the victim is a missing person who vanished 38 years before on her way to school. Central to the mystery is the late woman’s brother Mark Holgate, played by Toby Stephens, and a murdered journalist’s daughter Lola Baker, played by pop star Pixie Lott. Pixie isn’t the only pop star in the new series, as Will Young also has a role. Jason was thrilled to have such famous guest stars. He said, “We’re very lucky. That’s a good thing about ITV, they have access to these sorts of people so we get celebrities and pop stars.”
Pop star Pixie Lott makes a return to acting in an episode of McDonald & Dodds
The second episode of the four-part series is set in Mississippi, and features Holby City acting legend Hugh Quarshie. Jason promised viewers they won’t want to miss Hugh’s “really exceptional performance” as esteemed US history professor and bluesologist Clarence Adderly. Guest stars drive the plot, but it’s McDonald and Dodds that fans are tuning in to see – something that’s not lost on the double act. The pair love working together and put their chemistry down to a shared sense of humour and an ability not to take themselves or their craft too seriously. While some actors like to stay in character, Jason and Tala are both happy to be themselves when the cameras aren’t rolling. “We are quite similar in the way we work,” said Tala. “We both can chat and then film, we don’t need to go off and get into character. We’re also very honest.”
Claire Skinner regularly cracked up her co-stars as Chief Superintendent Ormond on the show
It seems the pair have a similar relationship to their characters, as Jason interjected, joking, “Yes, you can tell me exactly how you feel and what I’ve done wrong!” However, they’re not about to pretend that they haven’t ever disagreed. “Maybe once or twice,” said Jason, while Tala added, “But we don’t have any weirdness or any passive aggression.” Instead, gentle humour fills their days on set just as it does in the show. “It’s nice to go into work every day and it’s enjoyable,” said Jason. “We have fun, we have a laugh but we also work really hard.” They even add their own gags into the scenes, although they admit these often end up on the cutting room floor. Filming in the police station with Claire Skinner, who plays Chief Superintendent Mary Ormond, is where they laugh the most. “There was one move I did in one of the episodes that I thought would be funny and it was completely not edited in,” laughed Jason. Instead they save their bloopers and cut them together for the end of filming. “They did a reel for the wrap party,” laughed Tala, “It was just me swearing!” McDonald & Dodds airs Sunday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnJason Watkins
