Audio Interview With Theo James & David Allison At Comic-Con

Theo and David's interview is towards the end of the podcast so fast forward to listen



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Q&A With Bedlam's Theo James & David Allison

Originally airing on the UK's Sky TV, Bedlam, a supernatural drama set in a haunted insane asylum-turned apartment building, will make its domestic debut in October as part of BBC America's Supernatural Saturdays. Uinterview sat down with star Theo James and one of the serie's creators, David Allison, to discuss the sexy and scary new show.

Q: Of late, it seems that the place to go for really good, hard genre TV is the UK. Why is that?

A: Allison: [Co-creator] Neil Jones and I were actually pitching a different project a few years ago, which was also a kind of genre show, and no one would touch it. And I think it’s really interesting how that’s changed. I mean, obviously the big thing is Doctor Who because it’s become such a phenomenon in the UK. It’s a juggernaut. You cannot underestimate how huge it is. And I think the success of Being Human is really a game-changer, as well. It’s ridiculous, really, because we have such a rich history of sci-fi in Britain. I mean a huge and incredible history. I don’t know why [sci-fi] fell off the radar for a while. We’re really excited, and I feel like hopefully we’re a part of the whole revival. It's also wonderful coming to America as part of Supernatural Saturdays, when we’re going out. It’s a prime-time slot, and that’s fantastic for us. It doesn’t feel like a lonely place anymore, with all this going on. We have such a rich history of storytelling to draw from that kind of genre, so it feels right that we should be doing it.

Q: What was the genesis of the idea?

A: Allison: It was originally four of us, but in the end there were three, and we actually just locked ourselves in a room in a hotel for like a weekend...
James: One room?
Allison: Well, a conference room.
James: One single bed... [laughs] Allison: Your mind, honestly. It was a conference room. We had coffee and biscuits. And we just knocked around, and we all came with two ideas each, and we pitched them all to each other. The idea by Neil Jones, who pitched Bedlam, was the one that really stood out. When you have an idea like that, you always wonder why someone hasn’t had it before. And it’s interesting, though, because throughout its entire genesis, it hasn’t really changed in terms of what it is. You can pitch it now, and it hasn’t really changed. Also, we were all really involved, and we didn’t even really know how to do the teamwork thing. It was kind of new to us, but I think it benefited so much from being three people’s baby, and not one person. Definitely.

Bedlam’s Theo James & David Allison “Feel At Home” In America

Bedlam may not make its US television premiere until October 8, but star Theo James and creator and writer David Allison were on hand at San Diego Comic-Con to debut the pilot to an audience of hundreds.

This last Saturday, we took a break from the hustle and bustle of the event to talk with both men about the development, production, and genesis of BBC America’s newest supernatural series.

The show, co-produced by BBC America and Red Productions for US distribution, is set at an apartment complex called “Bedlam Heights,” a struggling new development previously occupying a mental asylum. Starring Theo James, Will Young, Charlotte Salt, and Ashley Madekwe, the series revolves around a small group of young roommates (“flat shares” if you want to be accurate) who get a little more than they bargain for from their flat’s previous residents.

Newcomer Theo James, last seen in 2010’s Downton Abbey as Kemal Pamuk, plays Jed Harper, “a flawed hero” with the ability to see and talk to ghosts before they pass on to the other side. On the character, Allison stated “that we were really clear that he didn’t have a super power. He has to deal with each ghost, and he doesn’t know how. He’s not going to just come in, do his stuff, and you know every week that it’s just going to be a nice, simple solution.”

“We wanted it to look dark and creepy but sexy as well. [We wanted to] make it partly look, ‘Wow, this is kind of a place I’d like to live’ and partly, ‘No way would I want to live there.’”

James added, “I suppose you’ve got to see why these people would remain there for longer than a week, because if it was some shit flat with like feces on the floor or something, you wouldn’t hang around, would you? But it’s a lovely apartment, all decked out.”

Allison and James shared a few laughs over the lack of CGI contained within the series. Allison admitted right out of the gate, “It was not a big budget. I would guess we were at about a quarter of a budget as Supernatural. We had to work really hard to think about how we would do that.”

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