Martin Freeman-starring series “The Responder” has revealed first-look photos of its anticipated second season.
Produced by Fremantle’s Dancing Ledge Productions, it’s set to debut on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on May 5 and will be available on BritBox this summer. Fremantle is handling global distribution. It has also released a trailer.
Written by Tony Schumacher, it will see its conflicted protagonist, police officer Chris, “trying to find his way out of the woods.”
“I am abusing this metaphor, but it’s an evolution. He thinks his life is going to be O.K.,” Schumacher told Variety.
“He has decided to take matters into his own hands,” added Freeman, as Chris finally – and reluctantly – tries therapy.
“He goes: ‘I am going to give it a go, maybe I will learn something.’ It’s about putting yourself in a situation where you can actually get some help. He is probably quite cynical about it and then sees that the person leading it is the same person he picked up as a very drunk driver. I don’t think he holds out a lot of hope for it, but he is trying it on. Like a new pair of shoes.”
Freeman, of “Sherlock” and “Hobbit” fame, doesn’t like to be “over-prepared” for roles.
“Quincy Jones described it as leaving space for God to walk through the room. To me, the greatest joy of acting is what happens between me and another person on set. Here, the material is already very good, so our job is to make it even better.”
Schumacher agreed: “It’s about allowing the magic to happen! When I watch the dailies, I see stuff there that I didn’t do. That’s the joy of collaboration, I suppose. You trust these actors to go and make stuff better, and I am a massive fan of what Martin does. It’s like being a… chocolatier. Suddenly, I am getting all these rich ingredients to work with.”
The show’s second season will be “richer and deeper,” promised executive producer Toby Bruce, at Dancing Ledge Productions.
“It got bigger in its scope and ambition. The first season started with Chris. Now, we already had these amazing characters. We were already painting on a bigger canvas.”
That includes Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo), struggling after leaving an abusive relationship.
“Tony’s writing is very dynamic and human, and everything is on the page, but I definitely wanted to speak to some people: Like the women who run the Liverpool Domestic Abuse Service. I wanted to understand what her mindset would be after walking away from her abuser, but not having dealt with it at all,” said the actor.
The Responder
Credit: Rekha Garton
“She suffers from PTSD and one of the symptoms is hyper-arousal: In terms of her job, that’s incredibly scary. She faces all kinds of threats, all night long. Her job is to remain calm, but that’s almost impossible now.”
Rachel’s moral code is also taking a beating.
“I think that’s what Tony really wanted to explore,” argued Bruce.
“For Rachel, it started from this place of idealism and six months on, having worked with Chris and having more exposure to the difficulties of the job, what does that look like? She starts to think: ‘Hold on a sec. This copper, the one I sort of despised, actually had some wisdom about the job.’ Maybe there is no way to do it completely by the book?”
“The goal for the team, I suppose, was to get into these people’s heads as much as possible and allow the audience some space to walk around there for a while. Not to get too meandering and too self-reflecting, but plot is not our favorite thing. We like behavior,” said Freeman.
But despite all the darkness, there is still humor in the story, underlined Schumacher.
“Everyone is naturally funny in this show. I never wrote jokes – just moments you know they will make fun of. Also, people navigate trauma with humor. It’s a reflex,” he said, reserving a soft spot for even the most troubled characters.
“You have to enjoy being with them too. It’s like ‘North by Northwest.’ You can’t just sit with Cary Grant all afternoon.”
Schumacher, who used to be a Liverpool police officer himself, tries not to think too much about the show’s life-changing success.
“When I was a kid, kicking cans on the road, I would do a commentary about me, playing for Everton. Doing this is not that different. I just enjoy it.”
So does his star.
“It’s a good fit. I would say to Tony: ‘Are you sure you want me to do it? If you think someone else will be better, I would just love to help get it made.’ I think I am quite good in it, but you always want to be better. I am judgmental about things and what saves me is that I am also judgmental about myself. But Tony says, quite rightly, that this is not just a police drama.”
“It’s about family, change, about being on a journey. You are trying to get better as you go forward, with ‘trying’ being the important part. Everyone in this show is doing that, they just have different ideas about it,” added Schumacher.
The first season sold to 175 territories globally.
“The response, the reaction… It was amazing,” said Adedayo.
“Now, I don’t think we talked about going ‘darker’: It was more about exploring how far these circumstances can take them and trying to be as honest as possible. Rachel’s story is the story of many people’s lives. The way PTSD shows up is very insidious,” she noted, praising this season’s directors Jeanette Nordahl, Mounia Akl, and Charlotte Regan.
“All three of them, they are sick. I felt so spoiled. They really collaborated and it was brilliant.”
Bruce added: “You try not to have any expectation, hoping it will resonate, but what Tony is trying to explore is just people struggling, trying to make it through the day and maybe be a bit better. Both Rachel and Chris are trying to escape something. They want to get better, but they don’t know how. It’s a show that’s specific to Liverpool, but there’s real truth to it.”