BILL ACTOR HAPPY WITH DRAMATIC EXIT (16/7/05)

From the Cambridge Evening News newspaper:

::: Real Name: Ciaran Griffiths
::: Birthdate: March 3, 1983
::: Significant other: Lulu, a TV make-up artist he met when she worked on The Bill
::: Career high: Helping revitalise The Bill
::: Career low: His uncredited role in MIT: Murder Investigation Team
::: Famous for: Playing a likable, if slightly dim, copper
::: Words of wisdom: On having to play Gary Best as a Manchester City fan when he supports United: "At least it was a Manchester team, rather than someone random like Everton."

After three years pounding the beat in The Bill, it's time for trainee DC Gary Best to hang up his hat. As a result, his alter ego, 22-year-old actor Ciaran Griffiths is getting some much needed R&R now that he's left Sun Hill.

"I finished filming the other week," he says, "so I'm just enjoying the time off now - having a bit of a rest."

With his character being shot in the back during a drugs bust in Thursday's episode, the stage is set for a memorable exit.

"I was chuffed, really," says Ciaran, referring to the time he first clapped eyes on his final script. "But it's left open. I don't die, so I could always come back."

After a brief pause, he adds: "But it would have been good to go out with a bang and maybe take a few people with me. Unfortunately, it didn't work out like that."

Nonetheless, his last story - which sees the officer reunited with his estranged mother - allowed Griffiths to get his teeth into some heavy scenes.

"It gave me some emotional stuff to do. Gary's not spoken to her for years, but then they reconcile and make up."

As for leaving The Bill, he says: "It was about the right time for me.

"But I'll miss the social side of it. I've already got over the fact I won't be playing the character any longer, but I'm also excited. I'm thinking positive and I'm not too disappointed. I know I'll stay in touch with the friends I made on the show."

Aside from broadening his social circle, the series has helped Ciaran improve his craft. "I've learned a lot on The Bill," he says. "Because the filming process is so fast, you have to catch up. It's like being on a treadmill - you've got to keep running all the time.

"The other thing I liked about it was they have loads of guest actors, so I wasn't always stuck with the same people. It was good to work with other folk and see what they were doing. I tried to pick up tips - I don't know if I've managed to put any into use - but I really enjoyed watching them."

And he still feels fondly about the character he's played since 2002.

"Gary was never the sharpest tool in the box, but he was eager. His intentions were good, but he was just a bit too inexperienced and always trying to prove a point to the older ones. He expected a pat on the back every time he got a result and became a bit disappointed when people just said, 'Well, that's your job.'

"I think by the end of his stint in Sun Hill, he realises he's got to spend a bit of time with his family. There are other things in his life than working."

Looking back over his time in the series, he recalls that he almost didn't get the part in the first place. On the way to the audition, he ran into some serious transport problems.

"It was the trains," he remembers, "they messed up. I got to the station and one was pulling out, and then I caught the next, but it broke down halfway between London and Manchester for over an hour.

"I was thinking, 'I'm never going to make it'. I got there 15 minutes before the end, and they said they'd still see me. I was lucky, really."

When he joined the show, The Bill was receiving a major revamp, with many of its old characters getting the axe, and a fleet of new faces arriving. Signing up along with a group of others certainly helped take the edge off those first-day nerves.

"It was good, as there were about eight of us in the same boat," says Ciaran. "And I think all the people on the show at the time clicked with the newcomers immediately."

One of the programme's most memorable moments was the live episode, which went out in 2003 to celebrate is 20th birthday. With 11 million viewers watching, the actors had to make sure they got it right first time.

"It was nerve-wracking," Ciaran remembers, "but I'm glad I did it. We'd had a few weeks' rehearsal to try and get it all to fit in. For this particular episode we used multiple cameras, whereas they normally only ever have one. so we also had to get our heads around that.

"It felt like it was over in five minutes when we actually did it, because my adrenaline was really pumping. Afterwards, I couldn't remember much about it."

He has certainly come a long way since he took his first steps in acting. As a child, he attended the Oldham Theatre Workshop.

"I joined up when I was 15 and went there religiously each Saturday. Every three months we'd put a showcase on and get casting people from Granada to come and watch and perhaps call you up for an audition.

"After I won one part, I just got into the swing of it. It's luck, really. Doing a few plays, getting an agent and then being sent to the auditions. My first TV role was in a 1999 episode of the BBC police drama, City Central. It was quite a small part."

The following year, he appeared in the film There's Only One Jimmy Grimble. "That was brilliant," remembers Griffiths. "I'd just left school and I was in my first year in college. As it was about football, there was 15 lads and we just used to play soccer all day." That same year, he also appeared in Coronation Street as an armed robber who met a grisly end.

"I liked that because it was short and sweet."

For a time he was also linked with Weatherfield thanks to his relationship with Samia Ghadie, who plays Maria Sutherland in the soap.

Although that has been over for a couple of years, it taught him how to deal with press speculation about his love life.

"I keep my head down," he says. "I just keep myself to myself. You can't start believing everything you read, but it is part of the job."

With all this experience behind him, Griffiths has some ideas about where he'd like his career to go next.

"I wouldn't mind playing a baddie," he reveals, "or something completely opposite to Gary. It would be good to have a new challenge and a change. I've had a week to chill, so now I'm up for a bit of work."