Hi, guys. How you doing?
Good. How are you?
Good, thank you.
And I really enjoy the show.
I mean, it's it's kind of the and it's obviously a detective show
at its core, which balances themes incredibly well.
I'll start with you, Dylan.
I mean, is that something that comes through in the script?
Because it's quite a tricky tone.
Tonality is quite a tricky thing to get right, which somehow they always
they always manage to show.
Yeah, Yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
It's got a real lovely mix of although those ingredients
and it just it's like a real symphony and it's,
it's, it's beautiful when
you see the characters
and their worlds and how they collide with each other.
And it's, it's really great to watch.
It's a great watch. And
yeah, the script is
so good and, and going on that roller coaster
ride of of finding can who done it kind of big and yeah, it's just great.
It's just great.
Yeah, yeah.
Felicity When you step into a world like this
that you kind of know because obviously this has been
sort of the death in paradise.
It's been on telly for quite some time.
Is it quite helpful when you have establish that tone,
when you do, when you step into a series
that you're kind of aware of how it kind of works already?
Yeah, I think it can be helpful.
It can also be a hindrance.
but you're also Terrified because I mean, this is a series after 12 series.
I mean, it's not, it's not a mean feat to run.
You know, I've been in Series that have run three times, twice.
I mean, in 40 years.
I don't think I've ever been in a series that runs to 12.
So there's a little bit of so it's a bit of all their thinking.
But when I read the script,
I didn't know that was so masterful that this is
this is somebody who really Tony Jordan really is on top of his game.
And so, you know, one minute you're in the scripts, you know,
when I read them, I would agree with me, you're chuckling.
You're sort of like, oh, that's awful.
You know, there's a you're going through this
sort of like this undulation it within within the actual page by page.
And I felt like even script level there was a masterful control that this is
this is a team that does Sanditon that does Death in Paradise,
people begging for more Sanditon but they get to put out with that series.
And apparently
Tim Key says that is that I'm going, No, but there's a massive audience out there.
Death in paradise is around the world.
So it's they, they kind of know what they're doing.
And I have to say it's an enormous accolade to them.
And to get Kris
Marshall back playing the same character, I think is an accolade to them
because they've written something so good that he wants to do it.
And, you know, Kris Marshall, I'm sure, is not short of offers.
So, yeah,
I mean, I in answer to your question, I'm
I think it's going to it was sort of humbling, slightly nerve wracking.
I never complacent.
I find it very hard to be complacent.
I'm sorry I do, knowing that we've got death in paradise.
But I think the show is an is an homage in a way to death in paradise.
And it's so it's it's not a copycat show.
It's it's take what Tony Jordan said cleverly and in the whole team
they've transformed it into something else.
So it's unique and so it has different qualities,
but it's stuck to the same disciplines, which I would say
must have been a nightmare to think through.
But they did. And I take my hat off to them.
Well, thank you for having me.
Well,
I think both of you look across your careers have been so good, I find.
But this is for both of you.
But without dialog, you have such expressive faces.
I mean, if you take James in Derry Girls and Lynn in Alan Partridge,
I think you can both be so funny about relying on
sort of falling back on kind of dialog.
Is that something that comes quite
naturally to you by comedic performers, or do you have that sort of practice
at home putting faces in the mirror or anything like that?
Dylan Yeah, I don't know.
I think you just go with the flow of the script
and in the moment kind of thing and you think, Well,
what my character like, you know, that is sort of,
yeah, me personally, I just go with the flow of that
and kind of don't really preplan it, you know, I just just get
go find myself right into the character at the moment.
And I want to work with an actor who - no names! -
but he used to look at himself on the monitor watching his performance
and eventually they they moved the monitor and he was lost.
He said What are you doing?
And I said, You can't watch yourself because you're not in it.
You know, with me.
And I think that's what I didn't say is that, you know, I concur with Dylan.
It's just like you're in it.
You know, you've got a really good script.
You've got a creation of a great character, amazingly,
with Lynn, there was a whole team behind that as there is with this.
But, you know, there was Coogan, you know, Peter Baynham and you see
Patrick Marber, you know, they were all like stepping in to Lynn.
And so I had to take all of that in and then do my own thing.
And we use observational qualities as actors that we didn't.
But I think if you practiced expressions in the mirror, you're done long.
Hopefully you go down a long crevice and never come back up again.
I think it's instinct and I think it's great script writing
and it's great imagination as well.
That's it.
And that's I mean, it's not that simple. Acting isn't that simple.
But actually, if you tried, you know, if you try and be straightforward about it
and just do what you believe in instead of just said, then I think
you'll hopefully reap the rewards,
enjoy it and I know, of course,
people speak about Beyond Paradise, but just because Felicity, I have you.
I mean, I'm sorry. I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.
For Lynn Benfield
Right.
His characters and I actually interviewed I've interviewed Steve before
for the Anna Partridge Movie. Actually.
He spoke about how Alan is nothing without her.
I just because we on the subject of spin
offs, is there ever been any talk of anything to do with Lynn?
Kind of.
I have. I have. I have approached it and I'll say it's the public.
I think it's so funny.
I had some ideas and I said, Wonderful writer to get some ideas.
But I he got the, the synopsis and he went, I just don't think it's got legs
And it hasn't got legs and I
actually sort of, I sort of agree with him because I sort of think that I think
Lynn I don't know what Lynn would be without without Alan.
I just think our whole world is made up of Alan.
And I think that
I don't know what you do with Lynn, and you'd have to have Alan being the pay
and then being the big shot for doing presenting,
which would be slightly unbelievable.
So yeah, I mean that's, I shouldn't really have told you that, but it's true.
He was really, you know, lovely.
The idea, the idea
of I'd definitely watch that 100%.
Yeah, that sounds great.
But did it just quickly be on the subject of other shows,
did you see Martin Scorsese's comments about Derry Girls
and what does that mean to you to know He's a he's a fan.
Yeah, That was so strange.
I just did not expect that to come out of his mouth.
Possibly. What is there? This is crazy.
But yeah, I mean, that's just like the beauty of Derry Girls radio.
How how universally accepted
it is and how people relate to it.
You know, it's it's, it's wonderful really.
And yeah, I'm really proud of that.
And have you guys ever encountered any surprising fans of work you've been in
for? Like, like possessing like Scorsese is someone that you know
or maybe that you wouldn't expect
necessarily to stop a party or something and said, Oh, by the way, I love
I suppose so.
Scorsese is probably, yeah, I've got my skill set,
so I don't think you can best Scorsese.
And you know, I had I've never had anything like that, to be honest.
Nothing.
I wanted to ask you about the the accents in this.
I love the accent.
You got to because my dad's from town in Devon
and Torquay, were any words in particular you most enjoyed saying
in these characters accents and any that you stumbled on
watching.
The first... mye a voice coach because she comes from Plymouth.
And so if we did stumble which you know, we just go into town
that quitely should go, Yeah I just immediately
stumbling because you need to do this, that and the other.
And she said this again and again and again.
And she said, lovely.
And she'd always do it with such grace and so she was always coach could be,
can have a voice coach.
I was slightly struck but Zahra Ahmadi was on voice coach wasn't she.
Didn't definitely Yeah. Yeah.
I mean I remember a few times I was like, So you say this line for me
and I just have that as a reference.
So yes, she was a real lifesaver for
that as well as being a lovely host
and the West Country.
So yeah, she's great. She's so special.
Yeah.