A FLINTSHIRE actor is taking on his most sinister role yet in a new TV mystery drama.

Rhodri Meilir, from Mold, has  entertained older audiences as nice-but-naive taxi driver Trefor, in S4C comedy series Gwlad yr Astra Gwyn.

But his latest role is bad guy Dylan Harris in the BBC and S4C’s Sunday night mystery drama series Craith, from the makers of Hinterland.

Of his character Dylan, Rhodri said: “His troubled childhood has turned him into a real criminal”.

Dylan lives with his ruthless mother and young daughter in a dilapidated old house in the middle of a remote forest.

“He’s a complicated character; the result of mistreatment and violence at the hands of his own mother,” said Rhodri.

“He’s not a sociable sort – he hasn’t got any friends and keeps himself to himself. He’s a man of few words, but what’s really complicated about him is that he doesn’t see that his actions are bad in any way.”

Craith differs from conventional mystery dramas by going against the grain and revealing the identity of the bad guy to the audience right from the start.

The eight-part drama tells the story from the perspective of Dylan Harris alongside that of DS Cadi John, played by former Emmerdale star Siân Reese-Williams, who returns to North Wales to care for her sick father.

As she works on an investigation into the discovery of the body of a young girl in a local river, it becomes clear someone has been kidnapping girls and keeping them captive.

Viewers get an insight into Dylan’s dark life and his relationship with his mother and daughter.

They will see how this unit changes as one of his prisoners escapes and drowns, sparking the police investigation.

He then tries to kidnap local nurse Lowri Driscoll but she manages to escape.

Despite all his faults, it is sometimes possible to sympathise with Dylan.

Rhodri added: “He doesn’t intend to be violent.

“Having been brought up in a brutal environment, you could say he just doesn’t know any better – but neither does he want to be violent like his mother,

“It’s been a privilege to play him – the trick is to try to get the audience to sympathise with the criminal as well as the victim, which can make the viewer feel quite uncomfortable.

“That’s what you want in a drama – to feel something as you watch. I’ve enjoyed the challenge.”