Professor T | Interview with Emma Naomi ( Detective Sergeant Lisa Donckers)

Who is Lisa Donckers ?

“I would describe her as an independent thinker, a workaholic and a very confident woman, who is not afraid to use unconventional methods for success. I see her as a maverick. She likes to think outside the box and sometimes regulations may get in the way of getting answers quickly.

“She’s been successful her whole life, academically at least, and I think that is a really strong foundation for her. The one thing that would knock her confidence is getting something wrong or making a mistake. She feels responsible for justice and if she doesn’t succeed in serving that she knows people will suffer.”

How would you describe her relationship with Dan?

“Lisa and Dan have a really great relationship, they’ve worked together for quite a few years and they’re really good friends. She really likes him but I suppose she’s thinking about the future and where she wants to be.

“Lisa is very ambitious, she’s still very young and she sees herself climbing the career ladder, she wants to be Superintendent one day. So in her mind a romantic relationship would get in the way of that. She wouldn’t want to sabotage their friendship, and they’re such good partners, so she wouldn’t want to ruin their working relationship either. I do think Lisa keeps people at a distance in general because all she’s really got time for is her work and looking after her father. I imagine she feels that friendships and romantic relationships are not in her plans right now.”

Her dad is hugely important to her, isn’t he?

“Yes, he made her who she is and she loves him so much. Her mother hasn’t been present for years and for a lot of her life it’s just been her and her dad, their bond is so strong and she has modelled herself on his work ethic. He was a police officer, so she has seen him at work and followed in his footsteps.”

How concerned is she about the opinions of her superiors, Christina and Rabbit?

“I think she really respects them both. She wants to be like Christina, to get to where she is. Lisa respects that Christina is a woman who has achieved so much and she wants her approval and admiration, but the way she goes about that is to prove that she’s right by thinking outside the box. I don’t think Lisa is ever going to be someone who plays by the rules to get where she’s going.

“With Rabbit she’s quite concerned for him at this point, because of the trauma he’s suffered and his alcoholism. She worries for him more than anything, she doesn’t want to upset him or compromise any cases. That’s her reason for going over his head sometimes.”

The first case of the series is an emotional one for Lisa, isn’t it?

“Yes, she’s triggered by a case that is very close to her heart, going back to her university days. I think she made a vow to herself that she was going to find the criminal and bring him to justice, but she can’t do it by herself because she’s so emotionally invested. She thinks it’s most appropriate for Professor T to jump on board, especially as he knows the university so well, so he’d also have an insight on why and how this happened.”

Why is Lisa so keen to work with Professor T?

“I think she really admires him – he’s odd but she kind of loves that. He seems to be so far removed, so emotionally uninvested in everything, that he has a bird’s eye view on how people think. He wouldn’t be like that without his unique personality. She thinks he’s a genius, she wants to emulate his intelligence and the way he approaches things. The only way to achieve that is to get him to be a mentor to her again.

“The professor seems to have an insight into psychology that nobody else has, he remembers years of research and can apply it appropriately to the given situation, whereas everyone else seems to misinterpret things, or just miss key bits of the emotional make up of people. The Professor is consistently able to find the reasons people do what they do, and therefore identify the perpetrator quicker than everyone else.”

Did you enjoy working on those scenes with Ben Miller?

“It was really fun, Ben is so insightful, helpful and generous as an actor and also really funny – I wasn’t expecting the Professor to be so funny! The really interesting thing about Ben’s Professor is he knocks everyone off centre, you don’t really know what to expect or how he’s going to react. That was always very exciting on set.”

Did you do much research for the role?

“I did, lockdown meant I actually had time to do an Open University course online on police psychology! It was very interesting, I learned all about the way you frame questions because a suspect’s memory can be so easily tampered with that you have to be very careful how you even ask what happened. It was illuminating for me because it made me realise that Lisa doesn’t play by the book when she’s interviewing people, she’s trying to get suspects to react emotionally so that they will let something slip.

“I also watched a lot of police shows on TV, like True Detective, Line of Duty and Luther, and there’s a lot of information on the Cambridge Police Force website that I read. I do think it helped my performance in the end.”

How thrilled were you when you got this part?

“Lisa is the most exciting role I’ve ever played, I’ve done a lot of theatre but not much screen work, so it’s been a journey not just with her as a character but also being on set. It’s a completely different ball game, especially as there’s less rehearsal time.

“I was on set for Bridgerton when I heard I got the part. I was in the trailer, sitting in a corset waiting to go on set and I got the call. I couldn’t believe it, I was gobsmacked. It’s been such a blessing,I feel really privileged we were able to leave the country, see other things and work, it’s been brilliant.”

What makes this series stand out for you?

“I think viewers will latch onto the Professor, the way that he solves crimes and navigates through the world. He suffers from OCD and it’s probably quite triggering for him to come into all of these different environments that he might feel are unsafe, we see him trying to get through that as best he can.

“The characters are as unconventional as the show itself. Visually it’s quite vivid, but the tone is dark, but yet it’s funny too in ways that you don’t expect. I don’t think it’s like anything else on British TV, especially with the fantasy sequences and the gorgeous cinematography.”

Which were your favourite scenes to film?

“I loved all the interrogation scenes, when it was just the actors in a room talking to each other. It’s the closest to theatre you can get, but also there’s something so raw about people just talking and listening, it’s simple but effective.”