Sanditon’s Unsung Hero, Arthur Parker

Among Sanditon’s Parker brothers, Sidney may have been the financial whiz and Tom may be the visionary, but Arthur Parker is inarguably Sanditon’s beating heart and unsung hero. We asked the cast of Sanditon Season 2 what they love most about Arthur Parker, and discovered that affection for Arthur and Turlough Convery, the actor who plays him, are one and the same. Read on and share the love!

Turlough Convery as Arthur Parker as seen on Sanditon on MASTERPIECE PBS
  1. 1.

    Rose Williams (Charlotte Heywood)

    I love Arthur. I love his sense of humor, his immediate embrace of anyone new, his sense of curiosity, his warmth, and above all, his character progression. As audiences will see across Season 2 and eventually Season 3, Arthur grows, and his depth of character reveals itself as he processes the grief of Sidney and steps up into a position that he has never had to before. It’s really beautiful to watch, and I think audiences will really enjoy it.

  2. 2.

    Crystal Clarke (Georgiana Lambe)

    Turlough Convery and Crystal Clarke in Sanditon as seen on MASTERPIECE PBS

    Oh my gosh—life imitates art, doesn’t it? Because Turlough Convery is like an antidepressant. He walks on set and you’re instantly cheered up, and that’s the same energy as Arthur. Just sweet, kind, caring, and charismatic. Yes. I love Arthur.

  3. 3.

    Tom Weston-Jones (Colonel Lennox)

    He’s one of the characters—and I’ve been very open about this—that I’d have loved to have played, because it’s so rare that you get characters who are not particularly opaque. They’re very clear; their intentions are clear; and I suppose they’re just very, very honest about what they are, who they are, what they want. Also, Arthur is also imbued with the fact that Turlough looks like he’s having the time of his life playing him. He just makes it look like he’s having so much fun. I think that adds to it, and I love that about him.

  4. 4.

    Frank Blake (Captain Fraser)

    Fraser and Arthur didn’t cross paths very much, but I do love Turlough. We bonded, obviously, because we’re both from Ireland, and I’ve seen him in loads of things, great plays and great TV shows, so I was already a big fan of his work. And then to find out he was an equally lovely, lovely man was great. I’ve seen him a couple of times since the show. He’s fantastic. Believe it all!

Want more Turlough Convery? Listen to his MASTERPIECE Studio podcast, watch his exclusive tour of the Sanditon set, and watch him in Poldark and Les Misérables, available to stream with PBS Passport!

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  • closing_paragraph: Want more Turlough Convery? Listen to his <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/podcasts/masterpiece-studio/turlough-convery/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MASTERPIECE Studio podcast</a>, watch his exclusive <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/clips/sanditon-s2-on-set-with-arthur-parker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tour of the Sanditon set</a>, and watch him in <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/poldark/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Poldark</em></a> and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/les-miserables/episodes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Les Misérables</em></a>, available to stream with PBS Passport!
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