When writer-producer Beau Willimon was four years old, he was taken to see his dads workplace.
Beau Willimons dad wasnt an astronaut; he was chief engineer on a nuclear submarine.
It felt like a rocket built to go underwater, Willimon reminisced to the crowd atThe Firstpress screening.
He would go on tour for months at a time and we had no contact with him.
Id draw cross-sections of that submarine, wondering where in the world he was.
That instilled a passion for stories about people on journeys, having adventures and pushing the limits.
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Would you sayThe Firstis an astronaut show rather than a space show?
Beau Willimon:Its a human show, more than anything.
The show is about the first human mission to Mars but with an emphasis on the human.
BW:[Laughs] Yeah.
We wanted to dramatise just how difficult it is to even get to that launch.
Thats really where our focus is.
But we settled onThe First.
Is that something youll be working towards on season two, if you get there?
I was being a bit facetious.
I dont want to belittle the Mars aspect of it.
We just want to earn it.
Season one is mostly Earth-bound.
By the time we get there, we really will have felt like it was a true journey.
Space exploration doesnt happen overnight.
She has less skill in that.
The super-rich are not normal people, right?
She has this ergonomic house that just functions incredibly efficiently.
I dont think shed spend very much time online shopping.
Theres a certain amount of salesmanship that goes along with it.
NM:That youd want to invest in.
We took a different approach, which I think is novel and interesting.
I think thats life.
Toenail clippings and death in a family are the human experience.
Thats no different than in a trip to Mars.
Seeing her contend with the thing that millions of people do, which is my backs bothering me!
Theres nothing airy or dreamy or wafty about the character.
I really liked that.
I trusted this guy.
The First starts tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.
