Sherlock writer inspired Essex-born actor to do this

London1946 is a dangerous and chaotic city, the mean streets of the capital often bearing witness to the strangest of crimes and the knottiest of murders. Fortunately there's a brand new TV detective on the block to solve them.

Emmy Award-winning writer Mark Gatiss, who wrote and starred in Sherlock, playing Mycroft Holmes, again writes and stars in new crime drama Bookish - and fans of Sherlock are sure to love this one too. Gatiss plays the erudite and unconventional Gabriel Book who, from his antiquarian bookshop, is also a maverick consultant detective to the local police. The thousands of books that line the shelves of his shop provide him with all the knowledge he needs to solve even the most puzzling of crimes. But like all true detectives he has a young sidekick to help him of course.

Step forward Jack Blunt, fresh out of prison, and played by rising star Connor Finch who was last seen in the TV adaptation of Dolly Alderton's memoir, Everything I Know About Love, as heart-throb love interest Street. In Bookish, described as "Sherlock Holmes meets Line of Duty" he quickly proves himself to be a worthy assistant both in the shop and in Book's murder investigations.

"I love the character of Jack. I felt an immediate connection with him when I read the script," Connor tells the Daily Express about his new role in TV's latest "cosy crime" period drama.

"He is a working-class kid who has suddenly been given this opportunity. He doesn't quite know why but he wants to do the best with the chance he has been given. I can really relate to that."

Connor, 29, looks suitably bookish himself with his angular face and specs but, despite coming from a working-class family in Clacton, Essex, he wanted to be a dancer or a musician, ending up the only boy in his dance school. He attended the Dance Foundation in Clacton taking classes in tap, modern dance, jazz and ballet.

"There was one boy older than me but he left and then there was just me," he says. "I didn't mind though. I grew up in a female household."

Connor studied musical theatre at Arts Educational Schools London before applying to study drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Originally, though, he wanted to be a rock star, and he can sing and play guitar and write his own songs.

"I grew up close to where Damon Albarn [of Blur fame] grew up and wanted to be a rock star too but it wasn't to be," he smiles.

Instead, Connor worked on a building site before he attended drama school.

"All my friends are in trades and they are still my friends. They really push and support me in this but it still felt like a big leap from that building site to drama school," he says.

"I'm not from an acting background. I grew up in a working-class household with my mum and little sister [Amy]. There aren't any actors in my family. My mum works in Morrison's." It is his mum that Connor credits for helping him through the most difficult time in his life.

In his teens he was hospitalised with an eating disorder and depression and has been open and candid about his mental health struggles on social media.

"I was battling several mental health issues around eating disorders and addiction alone before I got help," he wrote. "Speaking openly and seeking help was single-handedly the best decision I've ever made in my life. It saved my life. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it."

Encouraging others struggling to reach out for help, he added: "I was discharged from my sectioning at a mental health hospital. I think back to what a journey it's been. Being treated for multiple mental health issues, all deadly and all killers in this world today and all of mine stemming from the killer ED
anorexia and depression.

"I couldn't be more grateful and thankful for where I am in my life and the people around me. There's a handful of people that know they have played a huge role in my recovery and where I am today and I will never be able to thank you enough, but I have to shout-out to my mum, I wouldn't be here without you."

Today Connor has a tattoo of the word "hope" and the date "05 11 12" - the beginning of his recovery on his arm. Second only to his recovery, Bookish, being a Gatiss project and sure fire winner, is a real breakthrough moment.

The drama has been greenlit for a second series before it has even aired, with filming due to begin again shortly. And Connor now counts Gatiss, also responsible for Dr Who, as a "mentor and friend".

"I grew up watching Sherlock and I was taken aback by how brilliant it was. It was my first introduction to the character," he says.

"Acting alongside a two-times Olivier award winner was phenomenal and he was incredibly open to my ideas about Jack."

Connor was also thrilled to play alongside one of his childhood heroes, EastEnders and Line of Duty star Danny Mays. The pair became inseparable filming Bookish on location in Belgium and bonded over rounds of golf. "Danny is a real hero of mine. He is a working-class Essex boy like me," he smiles.

Mays, the son of an electrician, is from Epping and has been a regular fixture on our screens for more than two decades starring in Mike Leigh's All or Nothing and Vera Drake, and the BBC's Red Riding crime trilogy.

"I really admire what Danny has achieved. I grew up watching him and whenever I had a speech to do at drama school I turned to Danny's work," Connor continues.

"Whether it's a class thing, or geography thing or the similar interest in musical theatre and dance, we were able to connect. There were a handful of working-class actors who broke through and he was one of them.

"Gary Oldman is another absolute hero of mine who I would love to work with at some point."

I suggest with his dance background in ballet, tap and modern he'd be a shoe-in for Strictly further down the line. "Now that really would impress my mum," he laughs. "But it is a long time since I've done any proper dancing."

For now, Connor is concentrating on preparing for filming of the second series.

Gatiss himself says: "I can't wait for viewers to immerse themselves in the world we've created when the first series airs and I'm thrilled they are allowing me to dive back into the world of Bookish and create more fiendish crimes for Gabriel Book and the team to solve."

Like Sherlock, Gatiss has created a complex character in Book.

Although he is very happily married to his childhood best friend Trottie (played by Polly Walker of Bridgerton and Line of Duty fame), and who runs the wallpaper shop next door, Book is a gay man living at a time when homosexuality was illegal.

So they are in a "lavender" marriage to help conceal Book's sexual orientation.

With three main cases to solve in the series, each storyline spans two-episode instalments.

The series also features a wealth of guest stars including Joely Richardson, the afore-mentioned Daniel Mays, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Paul McGann and many more familiar faces.

"There are some real acting giants in this project," adds Connor.

Although some of the series was filmed in London, much of it took place on location in little towns in Belgium because as Connor explains, "they still have all these little cobbled streets as they always were".

The bookshop itself was a set, although so realistic it has even inspired Connor, who lives in London with his girlfriend, to pick up a book or two.

"I'm not really bookish at all so I'm catching up," he admits.

"But this has opened up the genre of crime fiction to me and I am working my way through a list."

• Bookish airs on U&Alibi at 8pm tomorrow