Stephen Graham has said his new Boiling Point series is ‘one of the finest things he’s been part of’, ahead of the show’s highly anticipated release this weekend.
WARNING: TRAILER CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE
Graham, 50, stunned viewers with the one-shot feature film of the same name, in which he starred as an 'emotionally scarred London chef' struggling to wrangle his team on the last Friday before Christmas, the busiest and most stressful shift of the year.
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The whole movie was filmed as one unbroken shot, just days before the first national lockdown in 2020.
The end result was a tense ride that stuck with fans long after credits rolled, meaning it came as little surprise when we found out there was a follow-up in the works.
This time, it’s in the form of a brand new BBC series, which picks up six to eight months after Andy’s collapse.
“Carly, who was the sous chef for Jones & Sons is now the head chef and co-owner of her brand-new restaurant called Point North,” the BBC said of the four-part drama, which premieres on Sunday 1 October.
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“She's brought most of the team from Jones & Sons with her. The series touches on social issues and things that are going on in the world, but it also really hones in on these individual characters and what they're going through.”
Ahead of the first episode, Graham revealed he doesn’t feature as heavily in the new instalment – and for very good reason.
“It is one of the finest things I have been part of,” he tells Graham Norton in tonight’s episode of The Graham Norton Show.
When asked about producing the show, the actor continued: “There is not enough working-class drama on our screens and with our own production company we’re in a position to make that happen.”
Graham added: “This time I am not front and centre because we wanted to give others their moment in the sun.”
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Vinette Robinson, who plays Carly, said in a press pack for series that the friendship between her character and Graham's is not as strong as it once was.
"The relationship is under some strain and we see the effects of that and how it emotionally affects both of them through the series," she explained.
"It’s a big point of contention for Carly, but she's not dealing with that very well."
Hannah Walters - who is Graham's wife in real life and executive produces alongside her husband, but also features in the programme as Emily - said the story worked well for TV because it has 'such a wealth of character and story', adding that it made 'perfect sense' for it to get the small screen treatment.
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"We had a lot of people say there were moments where they caught glimpses of certain characters that they wanted to know more about so it just made sense," she said, continuing: "Audiences can expect sweaty palms. I think they can expect humour. They can expect excitement. They can expect knowledge, learning stuff about the food.
"They can expect to be hungry by the end of an episode, because when you're watching food programmes, even though you've just eaten dinner, you always could eat more!
"An audience should expect heart, soul, hurt, anger, human nature and all of those beautiful, incredible emotions that we have as humans shown on the screen. They're in for a bit of a ride."
Watch the first episode of Boiling Point on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday 1 October. You can also watch the series via BBC iPlayer.
Topics: TV and Film, Stephen Graham
Jess Hardiman