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Digital Spy caught up with Steven Mackintosh, who plays desperate depot manager John, to chat about his new role and how it felt to be reunited with his Luther co-star Warren Brown!
What is the basic set-up of Inside Men?
"My character is called John and he is the manager of a warehouse, where vast amounts of cash are counted and stored before it's moved on elsewhere. It's a massively responsible job and he leads a very ordered life. One thing eventually leads to another - I won't get into all the details of it - but, with two others who work beneath him, the opportunity to take a large amount of money comes up.
"It's John's suggestion, but the three guys all have very different motives for getting to this place and making this huge decision to steal this money. It's about all of their motivations.
"The drama starts with the heist itself, which is full of tension and pace. It's a fantastic opening. You see the entire heist in September, and then it winds right back to March, to the roots of the story and how it all began - how they all got to this place. It's a really interesting story."
What sort of journey does John go through over the four episodes?
"It's a massive journey - I don't really want to give away too much about where it concludes. But, from the outside, it starts off looking like he's settled and happy, but actually he's a man who's feeling the constraints of his life. He bears this responsibility in his job that nobody really seems to appreciate. He feels pressurised by his boss and his masculinity feels slightly undermined by him.
"On the outside, everything seems like it's fine - he's got a nice home life and a nice wife. But in a life's that's outwardly settled, there's a lot of underlying anxiety and frustration, and that all opens up something in him - this enormous decision to do this heist. It sort of flicks a switch inside of him and he begins to change who he is, so it's a really fascinating journey."
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The series deals with issues of power and greed - does the real-world financial crisis play a part?
"It's not really a piece about that at all, it's very personal. As I said, all three guys have different motivations - the other two are probably more conventionally money-oriented, which is something that everybody can relate to. Trying to live a better life and get more money - in the world we live in at the moment, that's totally relevant for a lot of people, trying to make ends meet in this day and age.
"But John's issues are a little bit more complicated than that. This certainly isn't a 'state of the nation' piece about the banks or anything of that. It's a personal story, but it does say something about humanity as a whole. There are themes at play here that a lot of people can relate to."
Did you enjoy reuniting with Warren Brown and Ashley Walters on this project?
"Yeah, I've been lucky enough to work with both of them before. [2007 film] Sugarhouse with Ashley, which was amazing - we had an intense experience in a warehouse in East London back in 2006. That was incredible, so it's great to be working with him again.
"And Warren, [I worked with] on Luther, so when I heard it was those two guys, I thought 'Fantastic' - because we immediately had a head-start, in terms of a rapport. We didn't have a lot of rehearsal time, just a few days to sit around and discuss the scenes - you're just into it. So it really helps when you know the people and you can just get in there without worrying about the introductions!
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"It was lovely from that point of view, and they're both really easy-going guys and brilliant actors. We each bring a very different energy to the whole thing, which I think is really important. These three characters are so different, and I think that's the appeal of their relationship.
"They're a very unlikely trio and a very unlikely bunch of people to be doing something as enormous as this heist, which is also what's interesting about it. It's not the usual 'criminal gangs doing a heist', it's something completely different. They are the last people you'd expect to be doing this."
You've worked in film, television and theatre - are you keen to keep up that balance?
"I don't have a master plan, I don't know how anyone ever can with this business, really. I wait and see what scripts come my way and then try and make a decision within the choices that I'm offered. I see what turns up, and if it's something I'd really rather not do or I think it's too similar to something I've just done, I'll wait and hope for something else.
"I've been incredibly lucky - usually something very interesting eventually turns up. So I've managed to do lots of varied, different things - I'm really fortunate."
Inside Men begins tomorrow night (Thursday, February 2) at 9pm on BBC One
