Shaun Parkes (Harley Street) Interview
Starring Paul Nicholls, Suranne Jones and Shaun Parkes, Harley Street is a glossy, post-watershed 6-part medical drama series for ITV, set in London’s famous medical district, in a new stylish Harley Street practice. Shaun Parkes plays Dr Ekkow Obiang.
What appealed to you about starring in Harley Street?
Harley Street is a new twist on one of the most popular genres of television drama. The series is so well written. It’s a great show with a high calibre of guest stars such as James Fox, Leslie Philips, June Whitfield, James Fleet and Will Mellor. It’s a really exciting show for an actor to work on.
Did you do any research for the role?
I met with a surgeon on Harley Street who was absolutely brilliant. He was just like Ekkow in terms of his principles. Some of the cases he‘s had to deal with in his practice were similar to some of my storylines. He’s been in situations like Ekkow where he’s had to advise people that they shouldn’t be having surgery as opposed to just thinking about the money. He also worked for the NHS, as Ekkow does, so he actually has the best of both worlds.
Tell us about the team dynamics.
The character dynamics engage you from the start. There’s Martha and Robert’s relationship, tension between Martha and Felix Quinn, the uncertainty over who is the father of Martha’s child and Robert’s relationship with his father.
Do we get to see a more private side of Ekkow in the series?
We don’t really go into the details of Ekkow’s private life but we see his emotional side through his dealings with his patients.
During filming did you bond with all the other cast members?
Although it was a long shoot, I could probably count on one hand how many scenes we had to do together. Obviously Paul and Suranne’s characters have a lot more scenes together, but the three of us getting together was quite rare. We bonded but most of my time was spent with the patients.
Why should viewers watch Harley Street?
Harley Street offers more than just the medical side, because it also puts people’s lives under scrutiny. In most medical dramas they don’t tend to go into the lives of the doctors outside the practice, but there’s a lot going on here and plenty of stories are explored
What’s next for you?
I’m currently doing a voice over for an eight part documentary called Caribbean Cops.
