Category: IN FOCUS
Fuelling more Industry
Industry star Myha’la joins showrunners Mickey Down and Konrad Kay to reflect on four seasons of the financial drama, how S4 marks a new beginning, and how cast and crew have grown up together on the set of the HBO and BBC series.
Back to work
As The Night Manager returns for its long-anticipated second season, writer David Farr, director Georgi Banks-Davies and cinematographer Tim Siddell pull back the curtain on how they made this thrilling spy drama.
Inside out
Writer Dennis Kelly joins director Jeanette Nordahl and executive producer Katie Carpenter to take DQ inside the making of Waiting for the Out, the BBC’s adaptation of Andy West’s memoir about life behind bars – from the perspective of a prison philosophy teacher.
Notes on a symphony
Sky’s lavish reimagining of Amadeus pitches Mozart and Salieri into a claustrophobic world of genius, jealousy and court intrigue. Writer Joe Barton, star Gabrielle Creevy and production designer Morgan Kennedy pull back the curtain on making the five-part drama.
Gods and monsters
As Percy Jackson & the Olympians returns to Disney+ for a second season, DQ speaks to author Rick Riordan, execs Dan Shotz, Jonathan E Steinberg and Craig Silverstein, and stars Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri and Daniel Diemer about making this epic adventure series.
Bad ideas
Bad Influencer creator Kudi Maradzika and director Keitumetse Qhali talk about their partnership on this South African crime drama, tapping into influencer culture and the importance of language and music in the series.
Second thoughts
Ghosts continue to haunt Swedish police officer Veronika Gren in season two of SkyShowtime’s psychological thriller Veronika. Star Alexandra Rapaport and director Mikael Håfström discuss seeing spirits, the introvert title character and recreating the 1960s.
Crossing the line
Channel 4 drama Trespasses tells a forbidden love story set against the backdrop of the Troubles in 1970s Northern Ireland. Star Tom Cullen and producer Amanda Posey discuss making the series, why Cullen was the perfect casting choice and how the actor perfected his Belfast accent.
Giving it their Best shot
A Finnish crime drama investigates the mystery behind a teenage girl’s disappearance, set against the backdrop of a Helsinki suburb in the late 1980s. Director Saara Saarela and executive producer Minna Haapkylä introduce All the Best Girls.
No time to lie
Actor Shaun Evans and executive producer Tom Leggett discuss how their off-screen partnership paved the way for ITV drama Betrayal, which blends espionage intrigue and domestic drama to tell the story of a spy facing up to a midlife crisis.
The road to freedom
Prisoner 951 star Narges Rashidi, writer Stephen Butchard and director Philippa Lowthorpe reveal how they dramatised the years-long story of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention in Iran and her husband Richard Ratcliffe’s fight for justice in the UK.
Breaking the ice
Six-part drama Hildur brings Satu Rämö’s surfing and knitting detective to the small screen. Writers Matti Laine and Margrét Örnólfsdóttir, director Tinna Hrafnsdóttir and executive producer Eero Hietala unpack how they made this ‘Nordic blue’ crime series.
Gently does it
BBC series Small Prophets is Mackenzie Crook’s spiritual successor to the acclaimed Detectorists. He joins producer Gill Isles to outline the “gentle” new comedy, his decision to move behind the camera and creating the show’s animated stars.
Making waves
Storm clouds gather for the holidaymakers living together beside a Scottish loch in Channel 4’s atmospheric thriller Summerwater. Writer John Donnelly and executive producer Mike Ellen tell DQ about adapting Sarah Moss’s novel and the importance of challenging stories.
Killer twist
Belgian series This is Not a Murder Mystery offers a playful, surrealist spin on the English country house murder-mystery format. Creator Christophe Dirickx, director Hans Herbots and producer Kato Maes tell DQ about making the period drama and the iconic artists involved in solving the case.
Heart to heart
Dear Life stars Brooke Satchwell and Eleanor Matsuura join showrunners Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope to preview this Australian drama that discusses organ donation and the power of human connection through the story of a woman grieving for her fiancé.
Great expectations
Ahead of the launch of sweeping Greek melodrama The Great Chimera, star Fotinì Peluso and director Vardis Marinakis reveal how they collaborated on this adaptation of M Karagatsis’s celebrated novel about a complex heroine caught up in a turbulent love triangle.
Bear necessities
The first original Nordic drama on Disney+, Koka björn (To Cook A Bear) is a dark and visually dramatic adaptation of Mikael Niemi’s novel set in 19th century Sweden. Star Gustaf Skarsgård and director Trygve Allister Diesen reveal the show’s recipe.
Ready to Riot
In Riot Women, five middle-aged women come together to form a punk band and discover they have a lot to say. Writer and director Sally Wainwright joins real punk duo ARXX to tell DQ about making the series and producing the show’s original songs.
Journey to Seacrow Island
Writer Karin Arrhenius and director Fredrik Edfeldt reflect on the task of reimagining Astrid Lindgren’s beloved Swedish family series Vi på Saltkråkan (Life on Seacrow Island) for modern audiences, their screen partnership and why good drama comes from good characters.