Anthony Horowitz's new seven-part investigative drama New Blood is making its way to the BBC this week, with its first episode premiering on BBC iPlayer ahead of transmission on BBC One this Summer.
Credit: BBC
We got the opportunity to chat to Mark Strepan and Ben Tavassoli about the series, their characters and more...
What can you tell us about new series New Blood and the characters you play in the series?
Mark: Stefan works in a serious fraud office, he is an exciting individual, he doesn't believe in legislation or the rule book, and he wants to get out the office and get going and fight fraud. He is impulsive, a rebel with a cause, and somehow along the road gets entangled with Ben's case who works for the police.
Ben: Rash is much better looking than Stefan… no I'm joking! Rash works in the police force, and on the contrary to Stefan' character, he takes a bit more of a calculated and applied approach to each case, and he is a bit more rational thinking. Polar opposites in the way they approach each case. At the start of the first episode, they don't know each other, but they somehow become entwined in seemingly unrelated cases and then as we go on through the series, they realise that they are actually better together… or are they? Who knows?
What was it about this show and its script that drew you to being a part of it?
Mark: Anthony is an amazing writer, he's got an amazing reputation, and he's great at crime, but also he has fully fleshed characters that are really exciting to play. There's a lot of action in it, we do a lot of running, jumping, and fighting… yeah crazy stuff, so that is really exciting to do!
Ben: And I was working in an office at the time so it just seemed like that was a better shout really.
How closely did you work with Anthony Horowitz on the series?
Mark: I don't know about working because he goes off and he writes his scripts and he does his thing in his own space, but we spent a lot of time together and his son and his wife, Jill, so we sort of felt like we got welcomed in to the family I guess.
Ben: It was very family orientated and that's what fed into the production as well - the crew were unbelievable, and the cast.
How did the casting process work for the show?
Mark: So obviously they go out seeking individually the two characters. Then once they've got it down to their short list, they've got their favourites, I guess they do chemistry tests…
Ben: Which is like us being in a room, where we do two scenes, and there were loads of different combinations, and they literally just made you read the scene together and you perform it and then that's it.
Mark: I don't know if you know when your chemistry is working, but clearly they saw something in me and you boy, but we've gotten on ever since like a house on fire!
What was the chemistry like on set and how did that evolve through your time filming?
Mark: The chemistry was good i'd say, we had a lot of fun. We spent 12 hour days, for 5 days doing running and doing scenes, and it could get quite stressful - we never had an argument did we?
Ben: Not once. We never even came close to falling out which I thought was quite impressive.
Mark: I think that's very impressive.
Can you tell us a little bit about a typical day on set filming New Blood? If indeed there are any 'typical' days!
Ben: A typical day on set… well, we get in-
Mark: No, you pick me up first!
Ben: Mark always gets picked up first, and this is stupid-o'clock, like 6am - never talk to me when I get in - I always come in with my banana, trying to get some potassium in for the big day and then you sort of run through the rituals, you get your breakfast, makeup, costume and all that, and then the rest is always new. It's a bit of a surprise. Always new locations, new actors, new scenes, so it's very refreshing.
It's the first prime time drama to launch on BBC iPlayer ahead of its BBC One debut - how does it feel to be a part of that?
Mark: I like that fact that they chose this show for it, and I can see why, because I can see that the show targets the age bracket - sort of the same as mine and Mark's - who seem to watch everything on demand, I certainly do and my friends do. So in that sense, it's nice to be a part of that.
The television landscape and how we view television is really changing rapidly lately - what do you think about the change in all of that?
Ben: It's great when you move with the times, moving forward, it's more interesting, and Anthony Horowitz has technically taken a risk as he has written two young characters to lead the show and their stories, so I think he's been really great because I think he has a reputation and the work is great and I feel privileged and honoured to be the risk that he has taken on us.
Finally what's next for you in the coming weeks and months?
Both: We want Season 2!
Ben: Until then, we're the coat men at the Savoy… So if you ever pop down, I'll take your coat for you!
New Blood will be coming to BBC1 on June 9, but will premiere on BBC iPlayer a week before on Thursday, June 2.