In his first interview about series three of the hit Channel 4 show, Tim Wallers, 53, said not only will it deal with the Prince Andrew scandal, it will also focus on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s move to Canada.
Tim, who starred as Duncan Harper in ITV’s Night & Day, said: “Andrew used to be a bit of a cartoon figure – Randy Andy and all that. But in the light of what we know now, that’s not so funny.”
But the Londoner said that “it’s great to play the villain – they don’t duck the scandal, the subject is definitely addressed”.
Filming finished just before the Duke of York’s infamous TV interview with Emily Maitlis.
Tim said: “But obviously talk of Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein had been rumbling on long before that interview. There are definitely references to it without opinions being cast on it.”
Tim said he had studied Andrew: “I noticed he was always giving great big beaming toothy laughs, so I took that as a main characteristic and they went with it. I don’t know whether Andrew is laughing so much at the moment though. I watched the Maitlis interview and at one point he giggled at an inappropriate moment and I thought, ‘Bang on! That’s what I try and do in The Windsors.’
“By the end I thought, ‘I can’t believe you think that’s made your situation better!’
“Prince Andrew doesn’t come across as the brightest. I’ve watched other interviews with him and he never seems to quite convince that his activities are of national necessity.
“But I was amused by the story of him ramming his expensive Range Rover into closed gates in Windsor Great Park in an attempt to avoid a one-mile detour home. My impression of him is a slightly exaggerated Hooray, and that’s what I base my portrayal on.
“As the two writers say, Andrew is a sort of Terry Thomas or Arthur Daley of the series, an upper-class wide boy.”
The Windsors writers George Jeffrie and Bert Tyler-Moore have Harry and Meghan quitting even though it also occurred after filming the show had finished.
Tim said: “George and Bert’s powers of prediction are uncanny and the storylines do involve the Sussexes going to Canada.”
● The Windsors will return to Channel 4 at the end of this month.
