Character: Peter Buckingham
Actor: Elliot Cowan
Episode: A Lesson In Murder

Playing Peter Buckingham in Foyle's War was ideal for Elliot Cowan - because he gets a chance to indulge his love of dancing.

"I had to go back in time and relearn the waltz as well as the foxtrot from scratch. I loved doing it. Learning the foxtrot gives you information about the social environment because dance and music convey the constraints of the period. It helps you with poise and character.

"I love to do salsa but in working on the dance scenes for Foyle's War I met several people playing the extras who do Lindy Hop, a 1940s jazzy swing dance. They invited me to go to classes with them and it's taken over from salsa temporarily."

Peter Buckingham is a factory worker who falls for judge's daughter Susan Gascoigne (Sophia Myles), knowing that her father (Oliver Ford Davies) thinks he isn't good enough.

"Peter is trying to do his best for the woman he loves. He has passions and good intentions but he is marginalized by his love situation. He has to give Susan the strength and courage to continue their relationship and he stands by her, through some horrific revelations about her family. He's able to forgive and forget. I didn't know Sophia before but she is very experienced for her age and had good ideas about our scenes."

Peter is quite a contrast from Elliot's other ITV1 role this autumn, womanising SAS trooper Jem Poynton in Ultimate Force.

"Jem is not emotionally involved with anyone, while Peter is more sensitive and single-minded about Susan. But he's not a walkover, either, he is strong, moody and broody, which is interesting to play. I was attracted to playing a period character. You have to try to understand the pressures of being a working man during wartime and how that affects his behaviour."

Elliot's feet have hardly touched the ground since he left RADA in 2001. As well as Foyle's War and Ultimate Force, he also appears as a civil servant in Peter Kosminsky's The Project for BBC1.

He recently appeared at the Battersea Arts Centre in a David Hare translation of Brecht's play The Life of Galileo and his other credits include Rescue Me, Jonathan Creek and The Blooding.

Says Elliot: "I have had marvellous opportunities and it's been great to learn from more experienced actors like Michael Kitchen and Oliver Ford Davies. As part of their working community, you learn so much more than you do at drama school. I'm only 26 and I want to do more TV roles, but I'd also love to establish a reputation as a good working theatre actor of range and commitment, so perhaps one can inform the other."

September 2002; Publicity Release