Category: IN FOCUS
Domina effect
Production designer Luca Tranchino, costume designer Gabriella Pescucci and composer Samuel Sim tell DQ about recreating the sights and sounds of Ancient Rome for Sky’s historical drama Domina.
Making a Pact
Producer Elwen Rowlands and director Eric Styles take DQ behind the scenes of Welsh thriller The Pact, in which four friends are drawn into a world of secrets and consequences following a mysterious death.
Just looking
Writer Ed Whitmore, producer Clare Shepherd and executive producer Lucy Bedford unwrap the psychology behind five-part surveillance thriller Viewpoint, the first ITV drama that began filming during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Running Wild
Wild Republic star Emma Drogunova and director Markus Goller share stories of acting boot camps and filming in the Alps for the German drama, in which a group of young offenders escape into the wilderness in the wake of a mysterious death.
Portrait puzzle
Portrait-Robot (The Sketch Artist) co-creator and director Alexis Durand-Brault and producer Antonello Cozzolino discuss the making of this innovative Quebecois crime drama about a police officer who has a special talent for identifying criminal suspects.
Understanding Leonardo
A new drama seeks to explore the secrets and complexity of one of the most famous artists in history. Co-creator Frank Spotnitz and producer Luca Bernabei tell DQ about making Leonardo.
Being Frank
Actor brothers Brian and Domhnall Gleeson discuss making their first television series together, Channel 4 and Amazon’s Frank of Ireland, together with co-writer Michael Moloney and executive producers Clelia Mountford and Sharon Horgan.
Delivering Call the Midwife
Call the Midwife creator Heidi Thomas joins cast members Helen George, Jenny Agutter and Leonie Elliott to celebrate the upcoming 10th season of the period drama.
Barnstorming stunts
Director Dave Beauchamp and stunt coordinator Andy Godbold reveal how they masterminded UK soap Emmerdale’s biggest stunt since before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Royal awakening
Director Benjamin Caron, hair and make-up designer Cate Hall and production designer Martin Childs break down their work on The Crown episode Fairytale, which sees Diana move into Buckingham Palace only to find her life filled with loneliness.
Soul searching
Writers Patrick Lowe, Annabelle Poisson and director Sophie Deraspe discuss their approach to the story told in Bête Noire (Dark Soul), a Quebecois drama set in the immediate aftermath of a school shooting.
Leading Libertad
Director Enrique Urbizu and star Bebe travel back in time for Spanish series Libertad, which follows a recently released prisoner and her son as they seek their freedom amid a battle between gunmen and bandits.
Doing their Duty
New recruit Kelly Macdonald joins the cast and creative team of Line of Duty to preview its eagerly anticipated sixth season. Just don’t ask what it’s about.
Making Dreams come true
Creator Anastasia Volkova joins producers Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeniy Nikishov to discuss Russian drama Dreams of Alice, an atmospheric thriller about a teenager haunted by bloody premonitions.
Soul Power
National Geographic’s Carolyn Bernstein and showrunner Suzan-Lori Parks discuss dramatising the life of Aretha Franklin in the third instalment of anthology series Genius.
Family first
Henriette Steenstrup, the creator, writer and star of Norwegian dramedy Pørni (Suck It Up), and producer Ida Håndlykken Kvernstrøm explain how they found drama and humour in the everyday life of a social worker and her family.
Tall order
Creators Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli and producer Verdiana Bixio tell DQ about their Italian drama Io ti cercherò (Standing Tall), which follows a former policeman’s unofficial investigation into his son’s death.
Railway children
Head writer Annette Hess and producer Sophie von Uslar reveal how they made Amazon series Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (We Children from Bahnhof Zoo), which gives an uncompromising account of youth and drug culture in 1970s Berlin.
Wishful thinking
Showrunner David Schalko and producer John Lueftner take DQ behind the scenes of their six-part drama Ich und die Anderen (Me and the Others), a surreal road trip through the mind of one man with the power to change the behaviour of others.
Amazing Grace
John Simm takes the lead in Grace, the ITV adaptation of Peter James’ series of novels about Brighton-based detective Roy Grace. DQ hears from the cast and production team about filming the two feature-length dramas.