Iain De Caestecker plays Gabe

Tell us about your character
I play Gabe and some people call him Gabo. Gabe is a normal, nice, quite shy and introverted guy. Whilst he’s quite dedicated to his work as a call handler in an ambulance emergency control room, he doesn’t put in much effort into life outside the work. He’s kind of just coasting through, he doesn’t have many or any real meaningful relationships in life. He doesn’t have a big social life by choice, and as the story progresses, you come to learn he’s quite stuck in the past. There’s some childhood trauma from his past that he’s not quite ready to let go of, so when someone from his past comes back into his life quite suddenly and unexpectedly, he finds himself having to confront demons from his past face on.

When do we first meet Gabe?
We first meet him at work. He’s probably quite new to the job, been there under a year but he’s very talented at it. At the beginning of the series you find him on a particular call...

Tell us about the story of The Control Room.
I would say it’s one of the most exciting scripts I’ve ever read and it was a page turner from start to finish. I just had to know how it ended. Nick [Leather] has a way of using very relatable and universal themes and emotions. The characters are not two dimensional. What I really like about The Control Room is that it’s a mishmash between different genres. You have the obvious thriller side of it, with lots of plot twists and cliff-hangers at every corner. On the other hand, it could be described as a love story, about enduring love and how far a person might go to protect somebody or someone that they love. There’s also a coming-of-age quality to it as well. Nick is a master writer of suspense and it leaves you on the edge of your seat. It’s nail biting but it has a more sensitive side as well.