Not my finest opener in an interview, but thankfully Dom Mitchell takes it all in his stride.
Well, youd expect him to.
The idea of zombie love is his bread and brains and butter.
And now weve been lucky enough to have success and critical success.
Whats the time gap between series 1 and series 2?
Is it long after we last left Kieren & co.?
Its nine months later, and theres a fragile peace in Roarton.
Basically in that very Roarton-esque way theyve put everything under the carpet.
But in the wider world things arent going well between the living and the undead.
Theres a lot of tension, a lot of suspicion, and theres been a backlash.
And that has had a lot of knock-on effects for the Undead Prophet and his Undead Liberation movement.
So Kierens like I want to get out.
I want to go to Europe where theyre more friendly to people like me, people with my condition.
The first series was geographically very self-contained, and to great effect.
With these politics in play, will we be seeing more of the wider world?
Were focusing on Roarton Valley, so were focusing on the landscape of Lancashire.
So were having the politics come to Roarton.
Simon is the twelfth disciple of the Undead Prophet.
And the Undead Prophet has said to Simon, You must go to Roarton, because Roarton is special.
So hes gone go to Roarton and gather the undead of Roarton because theyre special and theyre the key.
The whole thing about the Undead Prophet is that he wants a second Rising.
He wants to take over.
He doesnt want the undead to be the minority anymore.
He wants the undead to be the majority.
And he believes that Roartons key.
Were keeping it in Roarton.
But because its in this rural bleak and beautiful setting we can kind of get away with it.
Are we going to meet the undead prophet in the flesh (no pun intended)?
I dont want to give away too many spoilers, but very eagle-eyed viewers willmaybemeet him.
Youve just got to look out for him.
Hes still a mystery though.
Hes still an enigma.
Maybe we meet him, maybe we dont.
Thats such a terrible answer!
But yeah, hes a mystery.
You mentioned The Rising.
Thats an interesting one.
I think because we focus on the question Is there going to be a second Rising?
in series 2, we deal more with peoples belief about why The Rising happened.
Thats why The Rising happened, in Simons mind.
And then in other peoples minds its just a scientific freakout.
So its all about belief.
We dont get to the actual why it happened.
I know, but Im not going to say!
Theres more about Halpern-Weston, more about the treatment centre and what goes on in the treatment centre.
Theres a fear actually, a lot, about being sent back to the treatment centre.
Theres a lot of creepy stuff about this pharmaceutical company who control everything.
It sounds creepy already!
Because that still sticks with me man!
Oh, Im so pleased to hear that!
Yeah, we have moments.
There are a lot of shocking moments in series 2, definitely.
I dont want to give away anything but there are moments.
We wanted to play with that.
Its a zombie show, no ones safe.
Its like life: who lives or who dies?
You know what, I would say so.
Thats not to say that in series 2 we dont end stories.
If we didnt that would be cheating the audience and I dont want to do that.
But we leave a lot of windows open and I think its such a fascinating world, to me.
And by opening that world up and exploring it more we can get there.
I imagine it leather-bound…
Its not, very boringly its on my laptop!
For the new people who come on they print it out and the printer always runs out of ink.
That would be awesome.
But I love it, its such a great resource.
I always go back to it.
When we heard about the recommission that was the first thing I read.
Since the first series ofIn The Fleshweve also hadThe Returned.
Do you feel competition from the French?
Were two different shows.
Were two zombie planets that orbit an undead sun, do you know what I mean?
So I think theyre kind of partners actually.
And the more undead shows the better.
The more supernatural shows the better.
How conscious are you of sticking to or steering away from the cliches of the zombie genre?
Im a fan, Im a huge fan of zombies.
Like in series 1 about the bite thing, that was something we had great fun with.
In series 2 weve got great genre movements.
When are you going to see an MP taking down a rabid zombie?
Its great to play with that, and because Im a fan its great to write it.
And I think the best sci-fi shows do that.
Like Being Human: you watch that for the characters.
And that was our watchword.
Would this storyline still work and would we care?.
And that was always the watchword.
Are you hoping for a third series?
Planning for a third series?
Well well just have to wait and see.
Wed like a third series.
Dominic Mitchell, thank you very much!
In The Flesh series 2 starts on Sunday the 4th of May at 10pm on BBC Three.
