Things do change a bit though. Mr Kitchen got Foyle in which he was stunning. Toby Jones had leads in Detectorists, the Dads’ Army film and others. And who can ignore Annette Badland as the pathologist in Midsomer; it might not be a lead role but the stories really come alive when Fleur (another biker bird and rock ‘n’ roller) comes on the scene. Still in Midsomer, Neil Dudgeon was also in the “character actor” box until he got the lead in the Cotswold Murder Fests. Damn good he is too – natural witty comic timing.
My theory is that UK tv producers have been influenced by the Euro stuff we get from More 4 and BBC4. Montalbano in particular goes out of its way to cast proper, real people; even if they are gnarled and wrinkly. They want to tell a story not just give jobs to their pretty mates.