Ahead of the game
G’Wed star Jake Kenny-Byrne previews the return of this standout Liverpool-set ITV comedy, talks taking on his first major acting role and discusses the sensitive side of the “fast, naughty” series.
When the young cast of Liverpool-set ITV comedy G’wed jumped on a Zoom call with writer Danny Kenny, they thought they would be brainstorming story ideas for new episodes of a series that was streamer ITVX’s biggest comedy in 2024, as well as the biggest comedy of the year on any digital channel following its release on ITV2.
But as the call began, they were soon crestfallen when Kenny revealed there wouldn’t be a second season.
“Danny was just like, ‘As you know, the TV industry is really up and down, things get cancelled all the time. I just wanted to tell you guys, I’m really sorry but we didn’t get recommissioned for season two,’” actor Jake Kenny-Byrne recalls.
However, the writer had a trick up his sleeve – a move made famous by X Factor judge Simon Cowell when delivering his verdict to aspiring singers on the competition series.
“All of our faces just dropped – and then he said, ‘We’ve been commissioned for season two and season three.’”
That call came last April, with filming on season two completed last summer before the rare double recommission was officially announced in December. Season two now launches on ITVX and ITV2 today, while S3 is due to begin shooting this summer.
The show features a mixture of new and established talent, many from the area in which the series takes place. It focuses on a group of teenagers led by Reece (Dylan Thomas-Smith), a cheeky, quick-witted lad who is tasked by his school headteacher with mentoring new kid Christopher (Kenny-Byrne), a self-resilient southerner who has come to Liverpool to live with his nan after a family tragedy.
Here, Christopher also meets loveable Connor (Max Ainsworth), soft-hearted Ted (Dominic Murphy), fun-loving Mo (Zak Douglas), determined aspiring actress Aimee (Amber Harrison) and confident, popular Mia-Louise (Gemma Barraclough). Philip Shaun McGuinness (The Responder), Jemma Churchill (Alma’s Not Normal), Leanne Best (Cold Feet) and Sunetra Sarka (Casualty) also star in a series that balances weighty issues like grief, sex, diversity and class with a lot of humour.
The new season picks up two months on from the end of S1 – when Reece was reunited with his estranged father – as the Scouse gang navigate new challenges from age-gap relationships and consent to acceptable ways to make money while still in school.
“When we found him in S1, he starts out nervous, introverted, like a fish out of water and bullied because he’s from a completely different part of the country,” Kenny-Byrne says of his character. “We really play on those class differences, but as he realises, with his mum originally from Liverpool and what Reece sees in him when he takes him under his wing, he’s not as different as he seems. Just because he’s southern doesn’t mean he lives in an ivory tower. By the end of S1, he’s become really close to Reece and their relationship has deepened.”
Christopher’s partnership with Reece seemingly comes at the cost of a potential romance with Amy. But in S2, “he’s more comfortable in his own skin,” the actor continues. “His confidence has completely changed. He’s lived in Liverpool for a year, still dealing with that grief, but he’s found a brotherhood, found his groove and there’s quite a fun episode that involves a massive house party called ‘Scouse-chella.’”
Christopher is the first lead role for Kenny-Byrne, who in a few short years since leaving drama school has appeared in ITV detective prequel Endeavour and recorded a role in BBC private eye series Shakespeare & Hathaway. He can also currently be seen on screen in another BBC series, period drama Miss Austen.
The job has been a case of life imitating art, with Kenny-Byrne visiting Liverpool for the first time for the show and growing in confidence on the Golden Path Productions series as the cast formed a tight bond.
“I had never been to Liverpool until I did the show. I went briefly to do the chemistry tests with Dylan and then I was living the role in the sense I moved to Liverpool for two months [for shooting],” he says. “We all had such a great time. It didn’t feel like a job, just a holiday with mates. You can see that progression throughout the series as us getting closer.”
Returning for S2, “it just felt effortless, like putting on some old trainers. You slip back into them and they feel just as good as they did.”
While the young cast started out as unknowns in S1, returning to film the second outing meant they had to deal with their increased celebrity as scenes were filmed on location across Liverpool and the Wirral Peninsula.
“One I really enjoyed filming at was Everton Brow, which has a gorgeous view of the Liverpool skyline and different places around the city,” he says. “We filmed at a park and people cottoned on that we were filming and all of a sudden there’s 50 kids sat watching. It was really great just meeting people and hearing what they thought of the show.
“The biggest thing for Danny, Mario [Stylianides, executive producer] and Chloe [English, S2 director] was making a show that people from Liverpool could see themselves reflected in and a show that doesn’t shy away from dealing with big issues but also celebrates people, the city and the region.”
It’s not just the locations that root G’wed in Liverpool, but the phrases and sayings used by the characters – and with Liverpool native Kenny as the writer, many of them are unique to the city. On the pilot script of G’wed, the cast and crew even got a definition of the titular Scouse phrase, which means ‘Go ahead.’
G’wed was the first major acting job for many members of the cast, so “we did feel like a family, always looking out for each other,” Kenny-Byrne says. “The shoots do take their toll on you when you’re doing 12-hour days, five days a week. Especially doing a comedy as well, having to be at that really high level, the challenge was keeping up the stamina, but we managed to because everyone’s just so lovely and friendly and down to earth.”
Another challenge for Kenny-Byrne was understanding the tone of the series, which will puncture really heartfelt, sensitive moments “with a dick joke or an innuendo.” “It’s not always like that,” he notes, “but it’s fast and naughty and it has got that heartfelt, sensitive centre.”
Even though G’wed remains a comedy, S2 leans more into dramatic themes. “But it was always about thinking back to the tone and if it is all grounded,” he says. “Even though we had characters who were more heightened or situations that were crazy, we always had to bring it down to the truth of the situation.”
With Christopher brimming with a new-found confidence in season two, “he’s no longer the butt of the joke,” Kenny-Byrne says. “He’s the one dishing out the banter, rather than just the straight man. You’ll see him come into his own skin and feel like he’s part of the lads and be more of the clown.”
Looking ahead to season three, “I want to see more of that,” he adds. “The Scouse-isms and the cheekiness Reece has that Christopher didn’t have innately, they’re rubbing off on him. I want to see him be a bit more cheeky.”
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