Adrian Dunbar is particularly good at making unreasonable demands sound worth considering. We value the comic nerve he brings to Hear My Song, and would not let the familiar police authority overshadow that earlier impudence.
Fi1m perspective
In Hear My Song (1991), Adrian Dunbar’s Micky O’Neill expects other people to help make his plans happen. The nightclub owner is searching for the singer Josef Locke, and Dunbar makes the effort of persuading everyone to take an interest funny in itself. He leaves the cheek visible, so Micky never becomes merely an agreeable guide through a fanciful story. We cared whether the singer would be found because Dunbar’s eager persistence made the errand feel worth following.
Peter Chelsom, who directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Dunbar, gives that eagerness plenty to do, though he sometimes presses too hard for affection. The romance suffers most from this insistence that we find everyone endearing. Ned Beatty’s quieter assurance as Locke helps: he makes the singer seem worth all the trouble Micky takes to find him. We enjoy Dunbar’s performance most when Micky is allowed to be impudent and the film stops requesting our approval.
The film came after an appearance in My Left Foot (1989), with supporting work in The Crying Game (1992) and the role of Kelly in Cracker (1993) following. Film and television work continued through the 1990s and 2000s before Line of Duty (2012–2021) brought wider recognition. As Superintendent Ted Hastings, head of anti-corruption unit AC-12, he became a familiar figure of principled authority. In creator and writer Jed Mercurio’s long interrogation scenes, Dunbar’s understated delivery and colloquial speech keep the authority recognisably personal.
The detective roles have continued with Ridley (2022–), which also gives him room to sing as retired detective Alex Ridley. Music had mattered to Hear My Song long before that, and his stage work includes Kiss Me, Kate (2024). Hastings need not become the only part by which we judge him, especially when the earlier comedy shows such a gift for being enjoyably presumptuous. For anyone who knows him chiefly through the police work, we would start with Hear My Song. Be prepared to forgive Chelsom some sentimentality.
Biography
Adrian Dunbar is a Northern Irish actor, director and singer. Born on 1 August 1958 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, he trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
He co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film Hear My Song, which received a BAFTA nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His other film roles include Peter in My Left Foot (1989) and Maguire in The Crying Game (1992). On television he has appeared as Kelly in Cracker (1993), John Marriat in Inspector Morse, a guest in Inside No. 9 and Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line of Duty (2012–2021).
