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Peter Capaldi plays Frank Ryland, a decent working man whose wife Helen (Juliet Stevenson) works as a primary school teacher. But their lives are about to change irrevocably.

One seemingly ordinary day, Frank and Helen Ryland experience every parent's worst nightmare when their only son, Rob, is killed within hours of starting work at a local factory. The loss of their boy utterly devastates them but, ultimately, their different journeys become a shared celebration of fortitude and the power of endless love.

Award-winning actor and director Peter Capaldi has a formidable track record embracing over 40 films and television programmes since his emergence as Oldsen in the charming hit film Local Hero, in 1983.

Indeed, the last two decades are replete with accolades illustrating the scope of his creative talents, including Oscar and Bafta wins for his short film Franz Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life (1995) to this year's Bafta for Malcolm Tucker, his acerbic spin doctor, in the hugely successful ±«Óãtv Two sitcom In The Thick Of It, written by fellow Scottish-Italian Armando Iannucci.

What is striking now is that his incarnation as the high-octane, foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker could not be further away from his tragic and quietly understated performance as grief-stricken father Frank Ryland.

Did this contrast between the characters appeal to Peter, who has recently finished directing Getting On, the deftly observed ±«Óãtv Four comedy drama about staff caring for the elderly on a NHS geriatric ward, starring Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine?

His cheerful reply is disarmingly honest: "No, not at all. The appeal was the chance to work with Accused producer Sita Williams and Jimmy McGovern.

"In fact, I'd have done anything to work with them. Jimmy's our pre-eminent television writer, so you know the material's going to be good and I was thrilled they wanted me.

"I think Helen's Story is not only a very affecting portrait of grief – it's full of love.

"Being middle-aged means I have – like others in my age group – experienced loss in varying degrees, but thankfully, not anything so devastating. I think to play parents convincingly - who are grieving so profoundly you must be very, very respectful of these people's plight. It can't be done lightly.

"I had to pretend very hard and make the difficult imaginative leap necessary to create what I hope is a worthy performance. The scripts were hugely helpful because Jimmy doesn't prop up Frank with a lot of words.

"His dialogue is pared right down – it's what's happening inside of Frank that I had to express. Unlike his wife, Helen, Frank's grief paralyses him verbally and physically. He's very still and private about his pain.

"He's the polar opposite of Malcolm Tucker, who spits out bile and insults with great velocity – words don't cost him anything, but when Frank speaks it takes effort and it's from the heart. He's a classic Jimmy creation.

Peter is full of praise for his co-star, Juliet Stevenson. "Juliet delivers a terrific performance and brings real gravitas to Helen and her fight for justice."

"As we all know, losing a child is not something you'd recover from," says Peter. "But in this story both parents do eventually come to terms with their loss in a highly-charged, cathartic ending.

"In Jimmy's work, people's hearts are generous and full of love so that even in the darkest moments there's hope – eventually, even Frank is capable of operatic grand-standing to make his support of his wife heard."

Fans of Peter's work have plenty to look forward to on television this autumn and winter. The third series of Getting On comes to ±«Óãtv Two and he appears as Balthazar in Tony Jordan's four-part magical retelling of the classic Nativity story, which comes to ±«Óãtv One this Christmas.