He said the role had “opened his eyes” to the work the police do and “how many people and how much energy there is on [the force]”.
He added: “We thought it was a good time maybe to tell that story.
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“I was playing the SIO [senior investigating officer], and I didn’t know what that was so I wanted to see how the rest of the team were towards him, and how he was towards them.
“We filled our boots and you just come away thinking: ‘Thank God we’ve got a police force.’
“But we won’t have if this current s**** storm of a government have their way.”
Schofield quickly apologised to viewers.
People expressed their support for Clunes’ criticism of the government.
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“We salute you Martin Clunes,” one twitter user said.
Another wrote: “Martin Clunes has just become the voice of the people.”
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