Stephen Merchant is sporting his trademark black-rimmed glasses, but his unfamiliar blue baker-boy cap is perhaps a clue that his latest role is as far from comedy as you can get.
He may have co-written and starred in The Office and Extras, and played hapless lawyer Greg in The Outlaws recently, but Four Lives, based on the harrowing true story of how serial killer Stephen Port drugged, raped and murdered four young men in east London, is among his few serious drama roles.
With the inquests into the deceased having recently concluded that fundamental failings by the Metropolitan Police 'probably' contributed to three of the four deaths, the fight for justice by the families of Port's victims is being retold in the three-part BBC1 drama about the tragic stories of Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor, and how their families and friends worked tirelessly to prove their loved ones had been murdered.
Stephen, 47, plays Port, who met his four victims online, enticing them to his home in Barking. The four men all died after being given fatal doses of drugs by Port, who then dumped their bodies locally in a killing spree spanning 16 months.
The last three of the victims were found in the graveyard of Barking's St Margaret of Antioch church, two by the same dog walker.
Port, who's now serving a whole-life sentence, once appeared on Celebrity MasterChef when the show visited the bus garage where he worked, and was self-conscious about going bald.
'So I've shaved my head,' says Stephen. 'My first big dramatic role was in the Wolverine film Logan and I had to shave my hair off, so I bought a lot of hats, which I still have.'
He was anxious about taking on the role though. 'Firstly, I wondered if I could do a convincing job. So I got some fake teeth to give me a different jaw and it helped with the voice.
'I worked with a voice coach to get Port's tone, or at least to scale back my Bristol accent. Then there was the trickiest challenge – doing the families justice.'
There was also the pressure of stepping away from comedy. 'I'd done a few other dramatic bits, but this was the biggest stretch as an actor I've had to do.
'Given my links with comedy, I had to ensure people aren't amused by it. But cleverly, the script doesn't dwell on Port. This is about the emotional heart of the victims' families.'
Sheridan Smith takes on the role of Sarah Sak, the mother of Port's first victim Anthony Walgate, a 23-year-old fashion student from Hull. Sheridan, who appeared in The Widower as the first wife of murderer Malcolm Webster, and played Cilla Black in ITV drama Cilla, has made a habit of playing real people.
'I love meeting them and getting to know them,' she says. 'I went to have tea with Sarah and her sister Kate and spent hours with them. It's heartbreaking for them, but it was important that they put their trust in me to tell their story.
'Sarah showed me videos of Anthony and it gets me emotional because you become so invested in them and what they must have gone through. You can't help but take it home with you. I felt really isolated and lonely, and I couldn't stop crying when I got back to my hotel.
'Sarah was convinced her son had been murdered. She kept badgering the police but could never get hold of them. It felt like it was just brushed under the carpet.
'Sarah said that after everything they've been through, this finally feels like someone's listening and telling their story.'
Four Lives, Monday-Wednesday, 9pm, BBC1.
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