Interview with Dougray Scott (David)

Tell us a bit about David’s relationship in the series…

David is married to his wife Annie, played by Shirley Henderson, who is extraordinary. I love Shirley Henderson; she’s possibly my favourite actor ever to work with. David and Annie have been married for a very long time (since their early 20s), and in the past they have had a troubled relationship, their story is very much a love story. 

We see flashbacks to their younger selves…

My actual son, Gabriel Scott, plays me as a young man in the series and he's fantastic. I might be the third best actor in my family after my wife and my son! 

What can you tell us about David?

David is a doctor, a general practitioner (GP). They live in the north of Glasgow, and in our story he’s from a posh part of Glasgow. I'm basically playing my mother, who's from Kelvindale, and she had a beautiful speaking voice. My character is very middle class, educated, and complex, quite narcissistic. He finds himself in a situation where something happens to Annie, she gets ill, and it becomes about how they deal with this very challenging situation. His character and personality really come to the fore. You see him in all his badness, goodness and the immaturity of him; how he hasn’t grown up emotionally as man. He has deep love for his wife, but he expresses it in a way that still manages to be about him for a lot of the time. He’s not self-loathing, he puts himself into quite high regard. 

Why do they choose to come to Summerwater at this difficult time in their lives?

They've been coming here for years. It's where they go and they wouldn't change their plans for it. The illness Annie has been diagnosed with becomes evident and they're trying to live a normal life whilst trying to forget about all their troubles. But of course, it becomes quite impossible for that to be avoided for much longer. 

What can you tell us about their relationship with the other holidaymakers?

Well, there's the “boom, boom, bloody boom from the bloody neighbours”. There’s a, what he believes to be, a Polish family next door, which is fine to him, but he takes exception to the level of the music that is played from their cabins. He doesn't have much interaction with the neighbours; he tries to be friendly, but they're not interested in this odd older gentleman. Not necessarily old, but older than them, because they're all very young. Everyone's secluded and closed off from everyone else to keep themselves to themselves. 

What can viewers expect from the Summerwater world?

Viewers will see the story of many different couples and the challenges that they all face as families, and in their own personal lives. The family of each cabin has their own different story to follow. It's a meandering story of different couples and family units. Sometimes they bump into each other, most of the time they don't. Our Annie and David story is certainly separate from the rest of them, until the end… 

It's about how we get through our lives and the challenges that we face and a very normal, abnormal story. It's very challenging, the situation and the circumstances in which Annie and David find themselves in - it's heartbreaking at times. 

How does the series compare to the novel?

The novel is great, it’s musings and a stream of consciousness – it’s a very particular style that Sarah Moss has written brilliantly and writer John Donnelly takes it and really goes with it, expanding it and opening the novel right up. It gives a narrative but that’s non-linear a lot of the time. You see things from different perspectives, the same scene but from a different character’s point of view, which really makes it interesting to watch.

How did you find it back working in Scotland? How often do you come back?

Scotland is the best country in the world, there's no question. We invented everything, we even invented the wind. I think the crews are the best in the world. I love the relaxed nature of it, the respect that they show, but you’re still never allowed to get ahead of yourself in Scotland. They'll bring you down quicker than the collapse of Manchester United! I love working at home - it gives me a chance to see family, friends and filming in Glasgow… I love Glasgow; I spent a lot of time there growing up as a boy. I always went to school on the east coast, but my parents are both from Glasgow and I have an emotional affinity with the city that makes me feel good when I return. 

Do you have a memory of a family holiday?

I used to love coming to the western isles, the Inner Hebrides, and we did that quite often. We used to stay in a caravan site, a place called Dunaverty in Southend, on the Mull of Kintyre. I go there every year now because I love that area of Scotland. Coming to Scotland is my favourite holiday.