SciFiAndTvTalk

This Week On Ashes To Ashes - 05 - 25 - 10

DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) and DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) head off to the crime scene. Photo copyright of the BBC.

SPOILER ALERT!! - Animal rights activists have threatened a series of attacks in London and the first victim - the daughter of a commercial laboratory owner - is in hospital. Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) orders his team not to sleep until those responsible are behind bars. Their first stop is a prison where Robin Elliot (David Bradley), a known animal rights activist, is serving time for killing a scientist in the 70's. Alex (Keeley Hawes) is convinced Robin knows about the planned attacks, but with no contact with the outside world, there doesn't appear to be any way for him to be involved. Robin's eerily prescient knowledge of the future makes Alex think he could be involved not only with the case, but also with her own fate. Having heard the voices of ambulance men, Alex worries that hope is fading for her survival in the present day. Gene skirts closely towards a dangerous conflict with Supermac (Roger Allam), who warns him to toe the line or face the consequences. As Alex fights for her life and Gene fights for his career, can they prevent more casualties before time runs out? Episode three airs Tuesday, May 25th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on BBC America.

Robin Elliot (David Bradley) - prophet or phoney? Photo copyright of the BBC.

On the move! DS Ray Carling (Dean Andrews), DC Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster) and DCI Hunt (Philip Glenister). Photo copyright of the BBC.

Philip Glenister prepares for the next take. Photo copyright of the BBC.

Keeley Hawes and Philip Glenister wait for the cameras to start rolling. Photo copyright of the BBC.

As noted above, all photos copyright of the BBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Ashes To Ashes' Keeley Hawes Talks About DI Alex Drake

Ashes to Ashes' DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) and DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Photo copyright of the BBC.

As MI5 agent Zoe Reynolds on the hit British TV spy drama series Spooks, Keeley Hawes risked her life in the defense of the realm from international terrorism. For the past three years, the actress has focused more on home-grown threats, specifically involving the sprawling metropolis of London, as DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes, which is currently airing its third season in the UK.

When a gunshot wound to the head "transports" Alex Drake back to the early 1980's, she struggles to separate fact from fiction as she tries to find her way back home to the present day and to her daughter Molly. In the show's second season, which premiered Tuesday, May 8th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on BBC America, audiences continue along with Alex as she fights to get her real life back. The following is the second of two BBC America Ashes to Ashes Q &A's with actress Keeley Hawes about her work on the series.

As Ashes to Ashes continues, DI Alex Drake and the rest of the CID team are searching for suspects in an underground sewage system,. Luckily for Keeley Hawes, this scene didn't set the tone for what her character could expect to get up to throughout the rest of the season.

KEELEY HAWES - This season we get to see that Alex has calmed down a lot and has begun to settle into the 80's environment. She now considers the people around her to be friends, and because we've moved on a year, things aren't quite so heightened for her.

I've found Alex really interesting to play this season, because the lines are blurring between what she thinks is real and what isn't. She is now beginning to wonder whether the 2008 part of of her life, including her daughter Molly, only ever existed in her head. It's definitely been an interesting angle to explore rather than the story simply concentrating on her trying to get back to the present.

Viewers are also introduced to an enigmatic stranger who is watching the DI and trying to make contact with her in a mysterious manner.

KH - A strange man keeps leaving Alex roses which she initially thinks is another puzzle. She starts to investigate further believing that if she solves the puzzle she may be able to go home. There are certainly lots of twists but I can't give the game away!

Since Alex first met ber boss, the brass DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), the pair have often clashed and enjoy a tempestuous relationship. Viewers are used to their onscreen bust-ups and fiery exchanges, however, Keeley believes they shar a mutual admiration for each other.

KH - They do still have their ups and downs, but Gene is beginning to take onboard different ways of policing and is starting to understand forensics and the importance of collecting evidence. Occasionally he and Alex are quite in tune and they definitely admire each other to a certain extent.

Keeley also reveals that there is a darker edge to this season.

KH - When DS Mackintosh (Roger Allam) joins CID as Gene's boss Alex instantly likes him but then she starts to see a darker side to his life. Roger Allam who plays "Supermac" is absolutely fantastic. He's brought a mysterious side to the character and a darker side to the whole season, which we're all really pleased with. The script writers have also explored Dean Andrews' (DS Ray Carling), Marshall Lancaster's (DC Chris Skelton) and Montserrat Lombard's (WPC "Shaz" Granger) characters more this season, and we get to see a lot more of Chris' and Shaz's relationship.

The 80's was a time of flamboyant fashion, bright make-up and glitzy accessories, and Keeley admits that she had far more costume changes this season.

KH - We haven't gone down the silly 80's fashion route because I don't think Alex would wear those clothes. However, Alex definitely wears a lot more outfits this season and in one episode I think I have eight costume changes. I had one quite brilliant outfit which was a shirt with a giant pussy bow, covered in little anchors, tight jeans with red stripes down the side and anchor earrings which were on chains. It really was quite something. I also had a great Japanese look at one point. The costume department have gone to town with the details this season.

Alex's hair has also changed from a poodle perm to a more grown out look with a fringe. Keeley explains the reason behind the change.

KH - My hair is now much shorter in real life because it had to undergo so much styling for the first season of Ashes followed by Mutual Friends that I had to chop it all off before it fell out. So for this season of Ashes I've now got a growing out perm - a bit like Cagney from Cagney and Lacey. Most of it is my own hair but I needed a bit of extra length at the back so I have a hairpiece that clips on easily.

Although the drama itself is getting darker, Keeley admits that the set was full of laughs and there was good banter between cast and crew.  

KH - We all get on really well, thank goodness, and there was constant laughter on-set. Dean and I would regularly laugh together and, in fact, last season was the first time I've ever been asked to leave a set because I couldn't stop laughing at Dean. I can honestly say we were all a bit better filming this season, but it was still very difficult not to crack up. However, laughing releases a lot of energy, so I think it is a healthy thing on-set.

A rare treat for Keeley was driving the Quattro; an experience usually reserved for the one and only Gene Hunt.

KH - I love driving the Quattro; the hand-break turns are particularly fun! However, there was one time when we were all in the car with a very expensive camera attached and Phil was driving. We were heading towards the end of the road, in the rain, and suddenly the brakes didn't work! It was a hairy moment, but Phil is a very good driver and managed to stop the car; we are all still here, thank God!

As noted above, photo copyright of the BBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Ashes To Ashes' Philip Glenister Talks About DCI Gene Hunt

Philip Glenister as DCI Gene Hunt in Ashes to Ashes. Photo copyright of the BBC.

If you happened to be a member of the criminal element during the 1980's in London, then Ashes to Ashes' DCI Gene Hunt was the last person you would want to meet in a proverbial dark alley. Not one to suffer fools gladly, he has even less tolerence for those caught breaking the law. A fair and honest cop, and very often a politically incorrect one, Gene does not fool around when it comes to cleaning up the streets of London and fighting crime.

Having broken in the character's cowboy boots playing him for two seasons on Life on Mars, Philip Glenister brings DCI Hunt's own brand of policing forward from the 70's to the 80's in Ashes to Ashes (season two of which begins airing on Tuesday, May 11th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on BBC America). The following is the first of two BBC America Ashes to Ashes Q &A's with the actor about his work on the series.

It's true that over the last four years the public have taken the character of Gene Hunt to their hearts and Philip attributes this to Hunt's ideals.

PHILIP GLENISTER - In this season of Ashes to Ashes, Gene is still out there being a maverick, but what I always say about him is that while he bends the rules, he never breaks them. He merely manipulates and stretches them a bit. If anything he is a decent and honest copper and he'll usually only collar unsavory characters. I love the western connotation with Hunt - he is exactly like a sheriff and sees himself very much in that guise. However, the problem is that he is out of his depth in the 80's metropolis of London and the bottom line is he is a 70's copper at heart.

In this second season of Ashes to Ashes the action moves on a year from 1981 to 1982 and the CID team face tough times.

PG - Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) becomes much more part of the team. But there is a police corruption theme running throughout the season, so it does feel darker than season one; the corruption breeds a lack of trust and coherence, which is unsettling for everybody. However, viewers can still expect moments of high campiness and there are some great one-liners.

Central to the police corruption theme is Gene's new boss, Detective Superintendent "Supermac" Mackintosh (Roger Allam), who arrives in the first episode determined to restore the reputation of the police in the eyes of the media and the public.

PG - Supermac is a highly respected superintendent who has been in the police force for a long time. He trained at Hendon and has come up through the police ranks which gained him a lot of respect from his colleagues on the force. Supermac enters CID and basically says that the police need to regroup and be accountable. I think Gene agrees with him up to a point, but then certain events lead him to question Supermac's motives.

Gene and Alex's relationship also continues to be fiery with a hint of simmering sexual tension beneath the surface. Does Philip think they would work as a couple?

PG - If you just had a show based on "will they, won't they," it wouldn't be that interesting; hopefully their relationship is a bit more complex than that. It's the moment things spill over from a professional capacity to a personal one when complications set in and you start to question whether they would work as a couple. I think Gene is an enigma and I play him with ambiguity rather than having a preconceived idea of whether Gene fancies Alex or not. There are moments when he teases her and she teases him, but Gene will never give anything away.

Philip admits that the long hours on set did take their toll, but he clearly enjoyed working with the cast and production team who he shared plenty of laughs with.

PG - Filming eight episodes took six months so it was a long shoot, but a great bunch of people work on the show, which is one of the joys of the job. There were so many funny incidents; we laughed a lot - particularly Keeley and Dean Andrews (DS Ray Carling), who are real gigglers. In fact, they are the troublemakers! Dean's laugh is like an animal's and Keeley will just crack up out of nowhere. She's pretty amazing because she can also cry on cue for scenes; her range of emotion is incredibly impressive

Of course an interview about Gene Hunt wouldn't be complete without asking about the love of his life - the Quattro. Philip chuckles as he recounts his experiences of driving what many people consider an antique.

PG - The stunt guys could just whizz past the cameras and do hand brake turns. I then had to get in the car for the interior shots and there would be two cameras stuck to the front and one on the side. I'd have to make sure I didn't drive too close to the curb otherwise I would have taken one out on a lamppost. The camera stuck to the windshield also meant I couldn't see anything out the front and the heavy equipment combined with actors, who had spent five-and-a-half months eating location food and syrup sponge, left the poor old Quattro scratching along the floor!

I always enjoy the driving stuff, though, especially throwing around a car which isn't my own. We had two Quattros this time round, so we weren't stuck if one broke down. In fact, we did have a couple of instances with the Quattro while filming this season, both involving the stunt men and not the cast I hasten to add. First a stunt guy smashed one of the car's front lights when we were filming a chase scene and the two cars clipped each other. The second incident involved a scare when the Quattro had to hit one of the stuntmen. Unfortunately, when the car actually struck him, he accidently smashed the windscreen. Luckily he was alright.

As noted above, photo copyright of the BBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!