Guest star: Danny
Midwinter plays Corporal Daniel Blakemore (episodes 3 & 4)
Corporal Daniel Blakemore has never been a believer in superstition.
But after a life-changing peacekeeping term in post-war Bosnia the once
level-headed soldier emerges damaged and scared.
His perception of reality is altered through guilt as he watches a
local woman and child die in a minefield.
Confused and troubled, he goes on the run convinced he can foresee
his own death, having been cursed by the dying woman's last breath.
For actor Danny Midwinter it was the most demanding role of his career.
"No-one knows what I went through playing this character. It was exhausting
as this guy is on edge 24/7," says Danny, with a grin.
"I always try and get as deep into a part as I can and this is without
question the hardest character I have played so far. You can't hold
back on a role like this and by the end of it you start to feel like
you're losing your mind as well.
"One day, I'd spent the whole day falling down a mine shaft to film
a scene where he's having a vision of his own death. All day long, just
supposedly falling to your death. Over and over again.
"That evening I went back to my hotel room, sat in the bath and
it kind of hit me what I'd been doing and I broke down. That's how draining
it was.
"Some of the crew probably thought I was a bit nuts during filming
but it was worth it because it's a brilliant story."
The baffled soldier is desperate to find someone who can explain what's
happening to him and what his visions mean.
The parapsychology team try to help him work through his trauma and
Monaghan does his best to show Daniel that his problems are rooted in
his past.
"Daniel goes to the unit as a last ditch attempt to find out what's
going on. He's on that thin line between sanity and insanity, but he's
still sane enough to know that Monaghan and his team might be the last
people who can actually help him.
"He is totally freaked out and on edge all of the time - because
he knows he is doomed," explains Hertfordshire born Danny, who has appeared
in Kavanagh QC, Murphy's Law and on the big screen in From Hell alongside
Johnny Depp.
Not helping matters is the 'treatment' Daniel is receiving from sinister
army medical officer Lt Colonel Petra Summers (played by Barbara Flynn).
"He thinks that she has screwed his mind up by keeping him in bed
and giving him drugs and that's why he breaks out," adds Danny.
"The poor guy was quite happy-go-lucky and confident before this. Now
he's convinced this curse is ruining his life.
"Under normal circumstances he is a just a nice guy from a stable
background who is trying to do the right thing. I don't think he deserved
this to happen to him at all."
And does Danny believe in the paranormal himself?
"Well, I won't walk under a ladder and 90 per cent of the public would
probably agree with me. So I do believe there is some kind of external
force out there, but quite what that actually is - well, I haven't clue."
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