Brand New BBC Series - Decline and Fall

Based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall is a brand new 3 part comedy drama series by the BBC.

The mini-series marks the first televisual adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Decline And Fall, one of the greatest comic novels of all time, and is written by James Wood. Decline And Fall sees Paul Pennyfeather (Jack Whitehall) as an inoffensive divinity student at Oxford University in the 1920s, who is wrongly dismissed for indecent exposure having been made the victim of a prank by The Bollinger Club.

David Suchet plays Dr. Fagan, the headmaster of Llanabba, an obscure public school in Wales where Paul first finds employment and works with fellow teacher Grimes (Douglas Hodge). It is at the school that he meets a beautiful South American woman, the Honourable Mrs Margot Beste-Chetwynde, played by Eva Longoria, who is the mother of one of the pupils. For Paul, it is love at first sight, but little does he know the surprises that lie ahead of him when he agrees to tutor her son over the summer holidays...

An exclusive screening of the first episode took place recently, which was attended by cast, crew and members of the press. Of course, TVmaze were there as well and, after the screening, a Q&A took place with writer James Wood and cast members Jack Whitehall, David Suchet & Vincent Franklin...

This is the first television adaptation of this novel, ever. Why did you want to adapt this for the screen?
James: Because it’s the most brilliant book and it’d never been done. My sister phoned me up and said “you love that book. Why don’t we see if we can do it?”. It’d never occurred to me, so she enquired about the rights. I didn’t know if the Evelyn Waugh estate would let someone like me get my hands on it. Amazingly, they said we could have a go, and so, it just felt like a privilege to be able to have a go at doing what is my favourite comic novel. Lots of people think it's the greatest comic novel in English fiction. So that's the challenge - living up to expectations.

Is it an easy one to adapt for the screen?
James: What’s great about it is, if you’re a comedy writer, what you’re after is great characters, and it’s just packed full of the most brilliant comic characters. It’s full of great comic set pieces. It’s a small gem of a book, and it’s all about character and action. And so, therefore, it was very adaptation friendly, I felt.

Jack, you’ve got the world at your feet at the moment; a very successful comedian. What makes you want to do something like this when the first page has you running around naked?
Jack: Well, yeah. There’s rarely something I’ll do where I get to keep my clothes on (Laughter). My heart sank when I saw that. I was like “A period comedy drama. Finally, something where I get to keep my trousers on”. Then low and behold; the first scene! One day I’ll do something where I’m dressed for the whole thing. Unlikely though.

I actually read the book when I was much younger and was a fan of it already, so I was aware of it when the project arrived and was very excited that I'd been asked to be part of it.

Vincent, Pende is quite a tragic soul. Is it quite fun to play someone so down-trodden?
Vincent: Yeah, there’s no acting needed (Laughter). Basically, Frankie Howard wasn’t available.

What I love about this book is it has a brilliant structure. Every character is really likable. They’re all deeply flawed useless monsters but actually, they’re all really charming and you could easily spend time in a pub with them.

David, Fagan is an amazing character. What was it about him that made you want to be a part of this?
David: He attracted me for so many reasons. He’s completely eccentric. He’s at the top of his profession, at the lowest possible place in the world. He wants everything to go well because Mrs Beste-Chetwynde is so wealthy.

The last comedy I did goes back over thirty years when I did Blott on the Landscape. So I just grabbed the opportunity. I was thrilled to be asked and when I read the role, I said “Yes please”. I wanted to do something that I hadn’t done for a very, very long time.

James, this is a rather extraordinary cast. Did you have them in mind when you were writing. How much input did you have on the casting?
James: I did very much have Jack in mind early on as Paul, but otherwise, no. I don’t really write that way. People came from different directions and different sources. Stephen Graham was Jack’s idea and it was a brilliant idea. Douglas was an actor I adored and I thought, will we get him? He lives in New York and did a brilliant on-tape audition. I was amazed he was even prepared to do that!

Jack, is this your first period drama?
Jack: Yes. Where David approached this as his first comedy, I definitely approached it as my first drama. I think that’s what is so lovely about this book that it shifts the two so much. That’s what I like as a viewer I like watching a comedy drama where it is so raucously funny in that first episode and then in later episodes, it goes to a much darker place.

Does it help to be with one of the masters of period drama when you’re doing something like this?
Jack: Yes. One of first ever jobs in the West End, I was David's runner on “Man and Boy”. I had to get him tea and coffee. He was amazing So nice and such a lovely person. I’ve admired him and looked up him since then. So now it's quite nice that we're working alongside each other and we're kind of on a level playing field.

David, it’s often said that comedy is a serious business. Was it a light hearted set? Was there fun going on, or were you all being very diligent and professional?
David: No, I have to say, I’ve had one of the most happiest shoots and it was great fun., even tho I had to leave the set. I was told to because I was laughing too much. Comedy is a very serious business and the relationship that we had with each other was to be able to play it straight and in our own world of exemplicity. I think that’s where this comedy sits well because it’s truthful and yet it’s not 100% real. It’s great fun and I think everybody will come away saying we had a wonderfully happy time.

Did you do any ad-libbing, or did you pretty much stick to the script?
Jack: It’s really hard to ad-lib in a 1920’s period drama. There’s always someone who will pick it up and correct you. I mean like, I didn’t throw in a twerk or a hash-tag, but you do have to be a lot more careful if you’re going to go off script on period drama. That’s something I learned. Obviously, with something like Bad Education, I could just say what I liked, which is slightly different.

What was it like working with Eva? What were the scenes like with her?
Jack: Yeah, she was amazing. She was very down to earth and very generous as a performer. Really nice to work with.

This concluded the Q&A.

Here are character profiles for the main characters from the show so that you can get a bit of an introduction to them:

So, the big question is, was it any good? Well, I've never read the book, so cannot compare the two. I did really enjoy the first episode though and it's pretty safe to say I will watch the remaining two episodes when they air. All the characters are very believable and likable. It really didn't take very long at all to know this was going to be a quirky and dark, but funny series.

For any still not sure, here's a trailer for the series:

Decline and Fall starts this Friday at 9pm on BBC One & continues the following two Friday's. Please, do share your thoughts and comments, below. I look forward to reading them.