Messiah V – The Rapture
Interview with director Harry Bradbeer
Messiah is back on Â鶹Éç One with a terrifying new story and a new cast, lead by Marc Warren (Hustle) as DCI Joseph Walker. Harry Bradbeer is the director of the new two-part drama.
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"I was very excited to be doing the new Messiah, especially as it was going to be a new departure, with a new lead, a whole new cast to find and the opportunity to reinvent the show in terms of style and approach," says Bradbeer.
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"Following on from four very successful Messiah stories, Messiah V maintains the series' dark and unsettling storytelling whilst representing a second chapter for the show.
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"My vision for Messiah V came out of Oliver Brown's script – a view of the world that I found compelling and complicated. It's unsettling, epic, perverse and mysterious. Oliver's writing lends itself to the world of Messiah – its darkness and threat.
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"The story is about redemption, loss and the collapse of society – truly biblical themes, and in addition we have a Middle Eastern flavour which comes through in Marc's past, his experience in Israel.
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"The End of the World – the Rapture – has an operatic quality as a premise."
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Marc Warren has the responsibility of heading up the new cast in his most high profile role to date. Harry feels he more than pulled it off. He says:
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"He slipped into the new role perfectly, bringing a mood and attitude quite distinct from Ken Stott's. It felt like a fresh start and a wonderfully different one at that.
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"Marc is an immensely watchable actor. There's always something going on behind his eyes.
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"And we were delighted to get Dan Ryan and Marsha Thomason.
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"It was a wonderful moment when the three did their first scene together and we could see there was a great chemistry between them. It was then that I knew we'd got it right.
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"Messiah V tells a chilling tale but it is told with an honesty and attention to detail that is often missing from other dramas. Its success is down to the collaboration between the filmmakers and the actors.
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"Directing for me is about creating something truthful and compelling to photograph, and in reaching that goal, the actors are central.
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"What you want – above all – is for your audience to be engaged in the characters, to care for them. And to be drawn into their fate."
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