A Final Cast Roundtable

- We are going to be doing our final round table for Masterpiece. As we talk all things Granchester, there could be tears, there will be laughter and maybe even a confession or two. Excellent. And of course it is all strictly off the record. I am Katie Ainsworth, a. K.a. Kathy Keating. So I'm going to be your host this evening. So we need to introduce ourselves now. So I'd like just to go around the table, starting with you. I'm Arweaver and I play Leonard. I'm Robson Green. Robson Go Lightly Green. Yay. That's true. This is Robson Go Lightly Green and I play Detective Inspector Geordie Keating. I'm Daisy Koolum and I don't play anyone. I'm a writer.You're the writer. The reason why we're here. That's me. Over to you. I'm Rishi Nair and I play Reverend Alfie Kotteram. I'm Charlesa Pete Jones and I play Mrs. Sylvia Chapman. I'm Bradley Hall and I played Larry Peters. Oh, great. Oh no, you see, it hasn't so many in the tears around. We're all saying play. We're not saying played. So now we've introduced ourselves. Let's get started. And I think the best place to start is the very beginning. And because we have the very person da, da, da, who created all of it, dramatized the books of James Runcy, Daisy Cooler please cast your mind back and tell us how everything began, how things go from book to screen. Because 11 years ago, none of us know the masterpiece viewers might not know how that happened. How it came About. So James Runcy's book, I read it in like an hour and a half and went, "This is so awesome. It's clearly..." Like all the characters were there. Like you weren't there. I wasn't there. You Are now. Bradley wasn't there. But everyone else was, it was all set out like a TV show. He'd really, really thought like six episodes, almost six chapters. And it would just, I could see it. I could see it straight away. And then - So did he write it with the intention of it being a TV series when he was writing along? I, I think he, he'd got that in his mind. Yeah. But, but the characters in the book are very, very different to what you created. I mean, I, I read that first series of books and I certainly know the relationship between Sydney and Jordy was, they seemed very, very different and they looked very different in what you created because Jordy was terribly overweigh. No stranger to the sweet trolley or the bar, you remember? Oh my God. He had terrible health problems in the, in the first books. Yeah. He was a big junkie chap. But when you, when you look at the books and when, when you, you digest that information, how do you turn it into something that the intention being a long running series with an arc and relationships that everybody's going to care about and follow? How do you - Do you know, we storylined it on The Meadows. Did you? Yeah. We literally sat on a picnic blanket and worked out what the storylines for the best series. Yeah. It was really cool. When, when was that? 2011? 12. Wow. Wow. So did you have quite a lot of input in the, in the early days around how Georgi Keating was going to be? Regardless of the books, where they were you read the books, obviously got inspiration from that and then you could then help develop? I Think I just said Peter Folk, Colombo. I just said Peter Folk, Colombo. I said, "Do you know the look?" I said, "Can he have one look?" We said, "Oh, well, we've got this brilliant costume designer. He's got all these other ideas." And I said, "Can I just have one look? I'll have the stoop like Peter Folk. I'll, I'll have the gate, the walk like his, and I want the shoes the same and I just want this, this beige look." Right. And I want, so I want a man who's stuck in time. And that was my only input. And I think it worked because if I do wear a different costume, you notice. Yeah, Yeah, yeah. So yeah, That, that - Wait a different tie. Yeah. So I think that was the whole thing, certainly from my character is a man who was stuck in his ways and I think that's a lovely thing to play when everybody else is progressing with the time he's, he's stuck in time. So now how many cases did you actually solve? Well, here's the Thing. They sold them together. Oh really? They sold them together. Of the 78 murder stroke deaths, 77 have been solved by a vicar. Wow. So this should be called Granchester. One is the answer. They should be called Granchester in brackets rubbish detector. Do You remember when we found out you sold the case? I read the scripts and I write you up and went, "You've done it, Man. I've sold the case. Episode six, serious 11 of what I've sold." Done it. Finally. So there we go. Just one. So we've gone from the people at the beginning to the last person to arrive with us, which was Alfie. And you arrived at the vicarious haunted by two very handsome ghosts. How did you feel about taking over? Obviously, which you did with Aplomb, as we all know. And also you had another job, you were an executive on the show as well. And what sentence, possibly, this is a lot of questions. Yeah. But it won't. How did you feel about taking Over? I was excited because, you know, it was the first time I was ever going to be a lead on a show, so that was really exciting. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared and it was super nerve wracking. It was like such a successful show that you guys had created over eight years, you know, a kind of staple of British TV. And you come in to lead a show and my first thing was just don't mess this up. Do not, do not cancel this show after one year actually, whatever you do. Because That follows you around. That follows you around. You're the Person who takes over another Show. Exactly. So it was scary, but it was, you know, within the first couple of days, you guys all made me feel so welcome and such a part of the family and that kind of allowed me to just relax and be the kind of best version of myself as a person and as an actor. And Yeah I - Well You met Him with such a different energy. I did and you Know - What I really love about, about this show is, is all the male relationships and how different each one of them has been with each vicar. And so the bromance has been completely Different. Completely Diferent, Right? And you came in with a completely different energy. Well, I, I, I, when I was auditioning for the show, I though I should watch some Granchester to know kind of what the show is about. And I remember putting it on, I think it was season seven. I watched about five minutes and I was watching Tom do his thing. And we're not playing the same character, but we are still the vicar that's part of this tuo. And I immediately turned it off and I though I shouldn't watch this because I think what I would subconsciously try and do is replicate what he was doing or alternatively try and do the complete opposite, which then also alters your performance because you're doing the opposite of what he's done. So I kind of just stopped watching it and I just read the scripts and I kind of just trusted the words that Daisy had written and I trusted my instincts to go with that and trusted the producers and directors around me that if I was veering in the wrong direction that they would steer me in the right way and say, no, this is kind of what Grunchester is about. And I think that allowed me to bring this kind of fresh take to the show because I didn't really know the show. Yeah. Rishi, are you prepared to tell the masterpiece audience what you told me that would blow our minds? I didn't know whether I was going to mention this. Are you going to tell that story? It's so Good. Yeah. I suppose I can tell that story so. So Good. When, when we started working together, do you remember we went for dinner in the Chop House? Cambridge. And we came out of the Chop House where we all go for dinner and we were looking at what, what's that, that building called? Where the street - Trinity. Trinity. Trinity College in Cambridge. And you was describing this scene to me. He was like, "In season one, we shot here and there was this and our director had vertigo and he was telling me all this kind of story." And while he was telling that to me, I remember saying to you, I went, "Do you know what? I'm going to tell you a story one day and it's going to blow your mind." And you looked at me in a really weird way of like, "What? That's an odd thing to say. All right." And then I told you a couple of months ago. So that scene that you was describing to me, weirdly enough, in series one, I was also there because I was an extra on season one of Grand Chester. And the amazing thing was at the Chop House, was that the first time you'd really revealed it that time you got the photo out? Yeah, when I told you That. And there's a photograph of, of Rishi in that first series. And you handed it around the table and I thought, A, how incredibly brave and honorable that you did that. But also it was just so amazing to think for young actors that you can go from that being a supporting artist to playing the lead and being an executive producer. And if that doesn't give hope to actors in the future, I don't know what does. And if that's not the manifest. In terms of, in terms of the character Leonard, because I got the states a lot and you, you talk to the, the, the American audience who loved this show and the majority of them, their favorite character is Leonard. But in the books, that character was very kind of disconnected from the main drive I think. He was, wasn't it? I can't re - he sort of appeared, didn't he? Yeah, Paige just, it was a tiny little part. And you know, credit to yourself that, that it's turned into what it has. It's certainly my favorite character in terms of, you know, likability and it's like, you know, you're watching a piece of theater and you went, I want that character to come back on stage because I like him so much. I mean, did you kind of realize as this was evolving that where, where characters were going and relationships were going? I think - And how popular Leonard would become? You feed, you feed off... So you feed off the actors as well because I think you watch what they do and then you go, "Oh, I want to spend more time." So I all, all of like Larry, for example, you want more of him because you're so good. So like, yeah, sorry, I'm getting emotional now. They're like, you know, like, so you sort of feed off each other, I think. And that means, and so then you, you want to give more dramatic storylines and then... So we put Leonard through the ringer. In fact, we put all of you through the ringer. Yeah. So there's been lots and lots of other things that have happened for everybody in this show. And there's things that happened kind of outside of, of the show, outside of playing the characters. And I'm thinking about firstly you two, obviously because both of you have directed. Now you've directed episodes and Brad, you've directed second unit staff. All of us, all of us around this table have, have done, have had extra, done extra things. Well, you have Casey, because you have brilliant ideas. You put them forward and then co-wrote an episode of the series Video. But again, because Emma is, and Daisy so open to that. Yeah. It means that you feel like you're able to share your creativity and Things that you want. They're being open, but also years of collaboration because every year you get to know people more and you're able to say, "Now we're a family. Can I ask you if we could do this? "o - But it's like the time, doesn't it to do that? On, on other jobs that doesn't happen. No. Never. And you don't have that opportunity to do that. Because of the, this, you know, the family vibe and the, the trust that's been built up over the years that this is, you know, it's a part, it's such a part of our course of my life, half my career. It's an amazing question, isn't it? It's incredible. I know that every single person who's on this job will, and I can only speak for myself, but like take this onto whatever I do. It's given me, it's given me the confidence, tools. It's been like an 11 year, very long film drama school. It has in a way. It's been how to be a better person school. Do you know what I mean? Like everyone, you know, and everyone who's come on this show has been, has turned up, know their lines, you know, had good etiquette led from the top and, and that's bled down from, you know, it's just, it's just such a good way to, to put, to do a show. Because it's very hard to be able to be taught what a film set's like. There's the terminology. There's, there's how everything works. You know, even things that you don't, you don't think about like crew show. Like most people like would go, "Well, what's a crew show?" They don't understand what that is and that's, you know, that's where your, your, all your crew come in, they watch the first run through of it so that they know what their part is in that particular scene. And that's the reason why you have a cruise show so someone's not sitting there going, "Oh, they need tea. I didn't think they would drink a tea." So you have this whole cruise show thing and those are things that you, you often get younger actors kind of saying, "What's that? " Well, That's Because In drama schools, particularly in the university of drama training, nobody teaches them. Nobody ever... I mean, I mentor at central and no one, the third year students still don't know what a crew list is. They don't know what everyone on a crew does. Well, that's outrageous. At a drama school, it's teaching acting. Who did you mentor? Do you mentored somebody At Central? We'll do it each year. Didn't you mentor - Oh yeah talking of that. Yes. This your other job. Oh my God, I'd forgotten that. Who Knew when this was going to come up? Bradley did not. Al, tell Bradley. Oh, Because we never have scenes together, so he's never there when you tell this story to everybody. Tell Bradley about our experience. Tell me that. Tell me That. Did You not Know? Absolutely not. 21 years old. Well, that's because we don't have any scenes together. It's usually just me and Tessa in the vicarage with the vicar when she tells the story. Every single day. So You didn't go to sleep. So in the, in your third year of drama school at Guild Hall where I went, you get given a mentor and it's someone to sort of like have a chat with you and speak to you about, you know, going forward into the world. And I got Tessa Pete Jones. No worries. Indeed. You are kidding Me Too. I've taught him everything he knows. All making sooner. So she said, so we had a cha - so did I do my monologue for you at all? Did you make the rubble? Yeah, he had do his audition speech. I was paid to do six hours work with him. I had to go through his audition speeches and give him advice. He never listened. And then watch all your shows in your final year, didn't I? And your agency evening or whatever it Was. And what's the biggest difference between Al then and Ow now? I think I listen more now. You listen more? Yeah. I'm much more calm. I was very like, I didn't want to hear anything really. And Tess was so gorgeous and kind. Well, you were, you already, You Didn't need any advice whatsoever. But you weren't going to Listen anyway. The irony is, I said to you the other day, I said it's taken 23 years or ever for your advice to stick in 11 years of working together as a proper mentor to really get through to me. You know? All the, all the things you were trying to teach. But I said in, I think I said in your car, the main thing you taught me is just how to have joy on set and you know, I think just make the other people around you have a good time as well just with kindness and whatever that actually being a better person is the best thing you can do as an actor. What if I've taught you that then, that's Amazing. I mean that shows taught me that show's made me a better person. Leonard has made me a better person. So in, in the future for everyone's characters, what would you have liked to have seen? In the future. In the future. Yeah. So, so, you know - Watch Sirius 15 if they had me. Yeah. What you, if you had any ideas about the future for your character, what would you have liked to have done? What do you think, where do you think they would like to have gone? We always talked about Interpol, you know, when, when countries started talking to one another about crimes. Go abroad. Can you imagine us in, in, in Paris or America. Transferred to New York. Oh my gosh. I, I always wanted to end up in Paris as obviously Coco Chanel. Yeah, indeed. Or Anna Wintour. Anna Wintour, definitely. I needed, she needed to have that Bob. Great. And just a pair of sunglasses and I just would become very quiet and still. So that's why I wanted for mine. What do you, what did you want from Lena Torre? I don't know whether we, there's a lot of storylines we always talked about and things that Leonard's... I mean, Leonard's literally like been through everything. Yeah. But the one thing that I always did, because there was always one when he directed the Christmas theater show, directed the kids. But I always had an idea. I always wanted him to like to be a football coach and like do like the Sunday boys fotball team and just like, just the image of him trying to control a football team. Oh, that's a fantastic idea. Imagine you in the halftime talk. 13 nil. This is a ball. So I think from all of us and from Sydney and Will and Ms. Scott and Daniel and Mr. C, who none of them are here we want to say thank you very much for watching and for every bit of love that you've sent our way and the stories that we've shared with the viewers who love this village and its murdrous inhabitants. And we want to say thank you and good night. Well done Casey.