'This is a different kind of medicine!' Richard Armitage on his new role as a forensic pathologist

Ahead of the new ITV drama Winter, its star Richard Armitage sat down with ITV News Central to tell us why he was attracted to the role and how is Midlands roots run deep.

The Leicester-born actor stars as maverick forensic pathologist Ethan Winter, solving complex murders. But one unsolved case remaining tantalisingly out of reach.

"I've played a couple of doctors before but I've always been fascinated with forensic pathology," he said.

"I've got a friend who was a pathologist and she's very secretive about her work so I was really curious to take on a role like this."

To help prepare for the role, Armitage said he went to the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust - where he was born - to study with a forensic pathologist.

"He showed me the tools of the trade, which are quite startling," he said.

"The bone saws and the pliers and the shears... this is a different kind of medicine," he added.

It's not the first time the 55-year-old actor has taken a starring role in an ITV drama. in 2024 he played a doctor arrested for murder in the thriller, Red Eye, set on an all-night red eye flight from London to Beijing.

But what is it about Winter that he thinks people will love so much?

"I think we a reassured by the thought that there are people out there that will come and save us if we need if we need it," said Armitage.

"If anything ever happened to you or one of your loved ones, wouldn't you want to know what happened?"

While Winter is the latest in Armitage's busy career which has seen him travel the world, it was the Midlands that kick-started his career.

He attended the Pattison College in Coventry from the age of 14 and says a lot of his professional work began in Birmingham, adding that he credits watching a RSC production of the Taming of the Shrew as confirming to him that he wanted a career on stage.

He was even named after a piece of local history: "My dad is a Ricardian and he used to go to Bosworth Field a lot because it's quite close.

"When my mum went into labor he said if he's born on 22 August he's got to be Richard, because that's when Richard III died at Bosworth.

"If I hadn't been born on the 22 you'd be talking to Russell Armitage!"

Winter is available to watch on ITVX and at 9pm tonight on ITV1.

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