Turlough Convery

Convery is often cast as a man whose size makes him threatening before he has spoken. He is good at finding humour or vulnerability once that threat has been established, without making the character harmless. We enjoyed Richard Baxter's action scenes in Resident Evil (2022), because Convery's physical agility makes the danger less predictable.

An early recurring role as Liam Owen in My Mad Fat Diary (2013) shows how much depends on the part. We recommend that programme strongly for Sharon Rooney, who makes its humour and discomfort worth staying with, though the writing sometimes offers reassurance too readily. Liam gives Convery less help: his unsympathetic position in the story leaves limited room to develop him. The part offers less evidence of the humour that makes Convery's threatening characters interesting elsewhere. His subsequent Tom Harry in Poldark, played from 2016 to 2018, continued the casting as a brutish enforcer.

In Killing Eve (2018), he appears as Bear in the third series, in 2020, and has more opportunity to make a supporting figure feel like a person. He avoids reducing Bear to one-note comedy, a useful skill in a thriller that keeps humour close to unease. Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer still do the work that makes the central obsession persuasive, and convenient plotting remains a weakness. We value Convery's contribution without pretending that it is what makes the programme worth following.

Arthur Parker in Sanditon (2019–2023) offers a welcome departure from the enforcers, with a comic character allowed to develop over several series. Convery can use his physical presence without having to make it threatening. His repeat collaborators include directors Tom Shankland and Lynsey Miller, though the recurring issue across these roles is how much the writing gives him to do. Another brute with nothing beyond an unpleasant task would tell us little we do not already know. For a closer look at him, we would start with Sanditon.