Category: SCENE STEALERS
Flipping the script
Atomic director Shariff Korver discusses shooting the opening sequence of the action-packed Sky drama, which blends action spectacle with humour to tell the story of two friends who embark on the unexpected journey of a lifetime.
Doing the dirty work
Mudtown series producer Hannah Thomas outlines how a key scene in the opening episode sets up the show’s central clash between a magistrate and a local crime boss, and reveals how its impactful courthouse bathroom setting was recreated in an old Newport factory.
Ex-plosive endings
The Ex-Wife executive producers Chiara Cardoso and Andy Morgan break down the making of season two’s final showdown – a dramatic stand-off filmed in an abandoned quarry.
Psych report
Malpractice creator and writer Grace Ofori-Attah reveals why she wanted to explore the world of psychiatry in season two of the ITV medical thriller, which she hopes will help remind viewers that doctors are human too.
Cutting through
Doctor Who writer Inua Ellams gives DQ the inside track on penning The Story & The Engine, his first episode of the iconic sci-fi franchise, and discusses staging a story set in a single location and the craft work involved in building a puzzling denouement for the Doctor.
The sounds of This City
Set in Liverpool, the city that gave the world The Beatles, BBC crime drama This City is Ours makes music an integral part of its storytelling. Lead director and exec producer Saul Dibb picks out some key scenes from the series where music drives the story emotionally and rhythmically.
Bay of reckoning
The Bay creator and writer Daragh Carville reflects on the fifth season of the ITV crime drama and a pivotal moment in the finale where “truths long unspoken” are finally brought out into the open.
Crime in the Canaries
Portocabo creative executive producer Alfonso Blanco reveals how broadcasters from Spain and Germany came together to back crime drama Weiss & Morales and discusses how the show utilises its Canary Islands setting.
Sealing the deal
Director and producer David Stubbs transports DQ to the New Zealand set of this family adventure series to reveal how his “old school” approach to special effects helped him to achieve a climactic final sequence featuring an animatronic seal.
Finding Lost Boys
Lost Boys & Fairies creator and writer Daf James reveals how the BBC series – following a gay couple’s journey to adoption – was inspired by his own life, and discusses one key scene “people always want to talk about.”
Proud moment
Director John Mark dissects a key scene from OUTtv’s latest comedy series, Off Shoot, and explains how he found the balance between thought-provoking and entertaining television.
A lesson in suspense
Rachel Gesua, senior executive producer at The Teacher producer Clapperboard, breaks down a key scene from the second season of the Channel 5 thriller, in which the protagonist faces the police after tragedy strikes on a school trip.
Manifesting Malala
The return of We Are Lady Parts for a second season about the titular Muslim punk band brought with it a standout cameo from Malala Yousafzai. Series creator Nida Manzoor explains how a song title led to the activist arriving on set for a western-themed music sequence.
Scare tactics
Deborah Ayorinde, the star of Prime Video anthology series Them: The Scare, introduces the series and dissects a key scene that leaves viewers unsure which side of the law her LAPD detective character is actually on.
Catching the eye
Kowalski Films’ Simon Howley, executive producer of South African true crime drama Catch Me a Killer, recalls the origins of the series and outlines one memorable interrogation scene involving the show’s protagonist, serial killer profiler Micki Pistorius.
Defying gravity
Showrunner Peter Harness and director Michelle MacLaren reveal how they conceived, planned and filmed spectacular zero-gravity sequences set aboard the International Space Station for the first episode of Apple TV+ series Constellation.
To Hull with it
Fable Pictures creative director Hannah Farrell outlines how Channel 4 series Hullraisers balances the portrayal of real-life problems facing its three central protagonists with moments of outlandish, heightened comedy.
Remembering Elisa
Ben Donald from Cosmopolitan Pictures reflects on making Italian-language series Per Elisa, which dramatises one of the country’s most shocking crimes – the murder of a teenage girl – and how it was left unsolved for nearly two decades.
Killing the mood
BlackBox Multimedia’s Giuliano Papadia and Clapperboard’s Andy Morgan reveal how a key scene in which the protagonist watches on while her husband is arrested for murder sets up the world of Paramount+ thriller The Serial Killer’s Wife.
The Last word
Emmy-nominated director Peter Hoar recalls making the standout third episode of HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us and discusses working with stars Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett on some of its most poignant scenes.