New BBC2 series: Banished to a land Down Under 

New BBC2 series: Banished to a land Down Under

Myanna Buring, Julian Rhind Tutt And Russell Tovey in Banished

Russell Tovey enjoyed his time in Australia working on Jimmy McGovern’s major new TV drama, writes Susan Griffin

RUSSELL Tovey’s looking distracted, as his beloved pooch, Rockie — a grey French bulldog who appears regularly on his Twitter account — snuffles around his feet, scouring for food on the Manchester set of new drama, Banished.

The pair spent weeks apart when Tovey was in Australia to film scenes for the period drama, which follows the 18th century Irish and British convicts who were shipped off to a New South Wales penal colony.

“He’s got his dog passport and his jabs, but I’m so scared that, because of his ears and the plane pressure, he’d start freaking out,” says the actor, who clearly adores his pet.

“We’re definitely a tag-team in the UK, though. He’s my stand-in, because our hair and ears match up.”

Tovey, who came to prominence in The History Boys and Being Human, normally plays the “lovable d**khead, but, as I’m getting older and filling out and able to grow facial hair, things are changing”.

It’s why he auditioned for the role of Major Ross, when Banished, written by Jimmy McGovern (Cracker, The Street, etc), came up, but was given the part of one of the convicts, James Freeman.

“I have quite an expressive face, which lends itself to comedy, but, with James, I wanted him to be strong and grounded and solid. He has humour, but has had terrible stuff put on him that he has to deal with.”

James is a pickpocket who was caught in London. “Instead of being hanged, which seems quite a strong sentence, he was given the option to come to Australia. He’s not an awful person, but an opportunist.”

He forges a strong friendship with Tommy Barrett, played by Green Wing’s Julian Rhind-Tutt, on the ship over, and then both fall for the same woman, Elizabeth Quinn, brought to life by Downton Abbey’s Myanna Buring.

“Tommy gets in there first,” 33-year-old Tovey says, but the three of them put these potentially conflicting feelings aside and become a strong team.

“The power of their love, and deep bonds of friendship, mean they all hang out together and look out for each other in this dangerous new environment.”

There are several Irish actors in the cast, as well as Scottish actor Rory McCann, familiar as the Hound from Game of Thrones.

The task of bringing 18th century Australia to life fell to directors Daniel Percival and Jeffrey Walker, and their teams. All of the exteriors were shot on location at Manly Dam near Sydney, and then production moved to warehouses in Manchester to film the interiors.

“We were worried how seamless it was going to be, but it looks amazing,” says Essex-born Tovey. “Plus, we had playback, so you could remind yourself of what sort of energy you went into a scene with. It wouldn’t have worked if we were running into a tent out in Australia, and then ambling into it back in Manchester.”

Much like the first fleet of settlers, the cast and crew found the bush location challenging. “I had a real leech attached to me, I ate a witchetty grub, and one of the crew got bitten by a mouse spider. My nature skills, particularly in relation to avoiding certain death, have improved a lot,” he says.

Tovey didn’t know much about this part of history.“I think it’s an untapped chapter that’s not really been covered,” he says.

He also says that it’s only in recent years that Australia has come to terms with its convict heritage.

“In the past, someone’s convict name would’ve been Tipp-Ex’d out on the family tree, but now it’s uber-cool,” Tovey says. And it wasn’t so long ago that these convicts landed on the shores of New South Wales. “It’s intoxicatingly fascinating. In the space of 250 years, all of that city, Sydney, has been created, yet it was begun by the people that we’re playing,” says Tovey.

Describing the Banished shoot as “totally unique and magical”, he hopes they’ll reunite on a second run.

“I never thought my career would take me to Australia, and then to get to do a Jimmy McGovern script, where every character is fleshed-out,” he says.

“Everyone wants to capitalise on their moment. And everyone gets their moment in this.”

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