“We have to be careful to protect the craft of acting,” says Gilshenan. “This modern push to have people play who they are diminishes the whole idea of what an actor’s all about. I understand the issues around characters with disability and characters who are transgender, but it is one of the skills we bring to the screen. We’re always stretching out to understand other people. As long as we approach the character from that character’s point of view and have empathy for who they are and for their thought process, we should be doing justice to that character.”

For Gilshenan, who won the 2020 AACTA award for best supporting actor in ABC refugee drama Stateless but has spent much of his 40-year television career in comedic roles (Full Frontal, The Moodys, How to Stay Married, No Activity), Harrow presents an opportunity to venture beyond “verbose comedy”.

“When I auditioned, I could see the character very clearly as this neurotic, obsessive, brilliant brain with social awkwardness. They’re some of my favourite characters, the ones that are intelligent, but socially, they’re clumsy. I really like that kind of character because they can sail through a situation unawares. You don’t have to push for it or do anything funny. You just have to push down into the dogged beliefs that the character has. And for someone like Harrow and the others, Lyle’s a bit of a freak.”

The series’ writers, Stephen Irwin and Leigh McGrath, have developed the character further in this third season.

“Believe it or not, Lyle Fairley is seen in the light of being a bit of a romantic interest,” says Gilshenan. “He’s also quite the Bear Grylls. There’s a wonderful episode where he takes Harrow and [Detective Inspector] Nicholls [Damien Garvey] away on a camping trip – a boys’ weekend – and, of course, those two freak out over bugs and nature and Lyle’s like a pig in shit. There’s a hero element to him.”

A Brisbane boy until he left for Sydney to study at NIDA in 1986, Gilshenan is delighted that his hometown provides the stunning backdrops to the show. However, filming during summer proves taxing for “certain Welshmen” who are less accustomed to the humidity. The airconditioning in the “morgue”, purpose-built inside a warehouse, must be constantly improved “to make our lead actor feel more comfortable”. Gilshenan refers to Ioan Gruffudd as a “trooper”, and enjoyed the former’s directorial debut on the second episode.

“Ioan’s a theatre actor. He’s very much into process. As director, he was terrific because he would take the time to drill down in scenes and find out what’s motivating everyone. He’s a great listener as well. His style is quite heightened. Ioan understands better than anyone the tone of the show. The first series, people were a bit unsure about the comedy and the dark edge. As we’ve gone further into it, we’ve bridled the comedy and made it character based. Certainly, I have drawn more on pain and truth, rather than being aware of where the jokes are.”