The First Day of Shooting

- [Chris] It's definitely the biggest opening to any of the series that we've done.

In terms of the actual opening premise, it had been an idea that had fascinated me for like decades.

I've said it so many times to my wife as we're driving down a motorway.

I've pointed, I've gone that'd be a great place to bury a body 'cause no one ever goes there.

No dogs are there to dig up bones.

The only time you're ever gonna have someone is if there's roadworks and you'd have to be really unlucky.

- [Andy] So the first day of the shoot was the big motorway scene wasn't it and it was set up in a fireman's training facility somewhere in Middle England.

- Oxfordshire wasn't it?

- Oxfordshire.

[Andy] It was technically very difficult to do.

- [Chris] But they did an unbelievable job.

- [Andy] We have these 50 cars going up one side of the motorway and then doing just on the absolute edge of frame, doing a sort of U-turn and coming down the other side.

So I guess in any one shot you could see 20 cars one side and 20 cars the other and the other five were doing the loop-the-loop.

- [Chris] Who wrangled all that?

Was that Marcus's job?

- [Andy] Yeah Marcus's job.

- [Chris] He's our first AD.

- Okay let's the cars going through, get the cars going through.

- [Chris] What a feat that was, it just absolutely 100% looks you're on the M1 and they've shot down a piece of it.

So it's a very dynamic opening.

- [Sanjeev] We had to pretend it was April and we were outside and it was at -7.

- I think we were running on the adrenaline of being really pleased to be back filming it.

- [Sanjeev] It got to the point that you couldn't feel your mouth.

You could hear the sound kinda, it was like you're just talking like that 'cause you couldn't feel your face at all.

And we were both in these coats and had hot water bottles and your voice was (voice stuttering) doing that anyway, because it's -7.

Well you know with the wind chill and everything.

And it was snowing and we couldn't film in the snow, so we had to wait until there's a gap and then jump out and with coats.

And then it would be, okay get your positions, the cameras are rolling, coats get taken away.

The hot water bottle gets taken, and you're doing that.

And Andy Wilson shouts, action!

And you go, anyway we found a thing over here and a skull thing in the car okay, uh huh, right, cut!

(Sanjeev shivering) - [Chris] The faces of the actors, I can now look at them and go, yeah I remember when we'd shouted cut, then you'd just be bouncing up and down and shaking your hands just desperate to get some tiny little molecule of warmth into them.

- Doctor Balcombe came out early doors and confirmed it was human.

Which is when they called for us.

- Okay, let's have a look.