Category: IN FOCUS
Escaping nightmares
Nights in Téfia director Miguel del Arco tells DQ how he sought to dramatise the experiences of prisoners in a real Spanish concentration camp with a story that follows its characters between their harsh reality and a dreamlike fantasy world.
Out of the Shadow
The Long Shadow writer George Kay and executive producer Willow Grylls speak to DQ about their decision to dramatise the story of serial killer Peter Sutcliffe and how they put the victims at the heart of the series.
Into the wild
In Prime Video series Wilderness, Jenna Coleman stars as a woman out for revenge after an act of betrayal. Writer Marnie Dickens, director So Yong Kim and executive producer Elizabeth Kilgarriff tell DQ how they brought the six-part psychological thriller to the screen.
Thrill ride
Killer Coaster writer-director Nikola Lange and producer Barbara Maubert take DQ on a ride behind the scenes of Prime Video’s unique murder-mystery comedy, set in a funfair that becomes the ghoulish scene for a series of deaths.
Brick by brick
The Woman in the Wall star and executive producer Ruth Wilson joins creator and writer Joe Murtagh to explain how the BBC/Showtime “gothic mystery” puts the spotlight on a dark period of Irish history, revealing surprising character inspirations and the art of sleepwalking on screen.
Real time
Danish star Sofie Grãbøl, writer Kim Fupz Aakeson and directors Frederik Louis Hviid and Michael Noer reveal how filming inside a real disused prison helped to inform the authenticity and truth behind six-part drama Huset (Prisoner).
Building The Fortress
In a dystopian future, Norway has become self-sufficient after building huge walls along its borders – but what happens when a deadly virus breaks out? Writer John Kåre Raake and co-director Cecilie Mosli welcome DQ to The Fortress.
Miró image
Actor Eduardo Lloveras and executive producer Tiffany Ruoz tell DQ about dramatising the little-known story of great Spanish surrealist painter Joan Miró, why he rebelled against traditional art and filming the telemovie in Barcelona.
No Love lost
Prime Video drama Fifteen-Love serves up a complicated story of abuse and power, set in the world of professional tennis. Writer Hania Elkington and executive producer Jake Lushington speak to DQ about balancing big themes with entertainment, developing messy characters and recreating tennis for television.
Sixth sense
Telling the tale of a serial killer who manipulated and gaslit his victims, true crime series The Sixth Commandment has been hailed as one of the dramas of the year. Writer Sarah Phelps and producers Brian Woods and Derek Wax reveal how this story came to the screen.
Special Agent
Britannia actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas has made the move behind the camera to write and direct Danish comedy Agent. He joins stars Esben Smed, Julie Agnete Vang, Mathilde Arcel and Ulrich Thomsen to tell DQ about the show, which follows one agent struggling to keep his clients happy while his personal life falls apart.
Keeping the Fire burning
World on Fire stars Jonah Hauer-King, Julia Brown and new cast member Ahad Raza Mir preview the second season of Peter Bowker’s BBC wartime drama, discuss its focus on ordinary people in extraordinary times and reveal how the Sahara Desert was recreated in Belfast.
Delivering the goods
Australian shortform series Appetite shines a light on convenience culture with a mystery that begins when a delivery rider suddenly disappears. Creator Mohini Herse and producer Karen Radzyner join stars Shirong Wu and Kabir Singh to tell DQ about this satirical comedy noir.
Staying power
Filmed in impossibly challenging conditions, Those Who Stayed tells six stories of people who remained in Kyiv after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. DQ speaks to the producers and filmmakers behind the series to find out why and how they did it.
Stream team
DQ hears how director Christopher Yip and cinematographer Allen Liu partnered to make Canadian shortform drama Streams Flow From a River, which examines the struggles and conflicts facing an intergenerational immigrant family.
Heating up
Set in a British restaurant, one-take feature film Boiling Point caused a sensation on its release in 2021. As a small-screen sequel heads to the BBC, DQ speaks to star Stephen Graham and fellow executive producers Bart Ruspoli and Hester Ruoff about what’s in store.
Down in the docks
Writer Baptiste Fillon and director Vincent Maël Cardona discuss De Grâce, a French series about the lies and redemption of a unionist’s family confronted with drug trafficking in the docks of Le Havre.
Behind the curtain
DQ meets the team behind Danish drama Dansegarderoben (Chorus Girls), which explores the lives of eight dancers who perform at Copenhagen’s Circusrevyen in the 1970s but hide personal challenges behind the glitter and smiles.
Getting darker
Series creator Charlie Brooker joins stars Paapa Essiedu and Anjana Vasan to take DQ inside Demon 79, a horror-focused episode from the new season of Black Mirror that stands apart from the rest for one reason – it’s got nothing to do with technology.
Fleeting thoughts
Coming from El Deseo, the company led by Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar, Mentiras Pasajeras (Fleeting Lies) shares unmistakeable similarities with the brothers’ celebrated films. Producer Esther García and director Félix Sabroso tell DQ about developing the comedy and share their views on showrunning.