The Ashes To Ashes star tells Ian Wylie about filming the final scenes of Alex Drake’s epic journey amid echoes of Gene Hunt’s Manchester past in Life On Mars.
The last scene to be filmed for the final series of Ashes To Ashes has just been shot and relief is written all over Keeley Hawes’ face.
It’s been a long, gruelling road for the cast and crew. Three years for Keeley playing Alex Drake and five in total for those also involved with Life On Mars, including Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt.
As is the way with filming, the last scene captured is not the final one viewers will see on screen. “It was a very strange ending to the whole thing,” explains Keeley.
“We finished shooting on February 10th, which is mine and Phil’s birthday, which is odd to begin with. And we were in a crematorium and it was a night shoot. So we all ended up outside this crem in a graveyard.
“There was a big cake for me and a big cake for Phil and some champagne – and we’re trying to be very quiet and respectful, whilst trying to celebrate a little bit. It was very odd, very surreal, a little bit dark and quite funny, which is all very appropriate for Ashes.
“It was a good way to end, a perfect ending, really. Ultimately you think, ‘God, it was such a big part of all our lives and so life changing for everybody in one way or another.’ But it’s also nice to think, ‘Right, we’ve done it, we’ve got to the ending.’”
A photo of Keeley taken moments later shows that relief. “Yes, you could say that,” she laughs. “Ashes has been extraordinary in lots of ways for me but I’m very relieved. I’m proud of it and I’m very pleased to have been there to tie up all the loose ends.
“It’s been a hell of a ride for me, and for all of us it’s just been mindblowing from beginning to end for lots of different reasons. We’ve come out of it with some great friends and some fabulous memories.”
The pipes are calling when Life On Mars meets Ashes To Ashes (BBC1, Friday, 9pm), with Gene visited by his Manchester past as Det Chief Insp Derek Litton (Lee Ross) – an old rival from series one of Mars – arrives in Fenchurch East, along with Det Insp Geoff Bevan (Nicholas Gleaves).
They are looking for Manchester club comic Frank Hardwick (Roy Hudd), said to have run off with £2000 from the Police Widows’ Fund. But why are they really there? And what does Bevan know about the fate of time travel cop Sam Tyler (John Simm)?
There are just three episodes left after this one, with the “bigger picture” finally to be revealed about who these characters are and why modern day cop Alex appears to have gone back in time – just as Sam did.
The cast were let in on the secret mid-way through filming of last year’s series, with Manchester – the home of Life On Mars – still playing a crucial role.
Keeley recalls: “I found it much more upsetting reading it through all in one go, hearing it for the first time off the page and having everybody in there and knowing that was the last read-through. It was very emotional. Much more emotional than when we shot it, the very end scene with all of us.
“Because when you do that, it’s the winter, you’re freezing cold, you just want to get in a hot bath and get a glass of wine in your hand. And you’ve rehearsed it and you’ve read it and you’ve known it was coming. So actually the read-through was more emotional than the actual day.
“It’s a very, very nice eight minute goodbye. Which hopefully is long enough for anybody. It’s a beautifully written scene, the big scene. I think we did our bit. But, ultimately, it’s all in the writing with Ashes. Matthew (Graham) and Ashley (Pharoah) have done some of their best work ever on the last two episodes.”
Keeley, 34, faced sometimes personal attacks for her portrayal of Alex in series one from critics who failed to realise that’s the way she had been asked to play DI Drake.
But the former Spooks actress weathered the storm and proved that she is a moving pictures star, convincing millions that her character really is back in 1983 – or wherever it turns out to be.
Some fans have been concerned about what they see as the lack of “Galex” in this final series – the potential romantic relationship between “Bolly” and Gene, which Phil has always maintained can never happen.
“There isn’t an awful lot,” reflects Keeley. “But that’s down to a few factors. We’ve introduced the new Danny Mays character of Jim Keats. That had to have a certain amount of screen time given over to it, to make the ultimate ending work. But I think they’ll be getting a bit more Galex than they’re anticipating in the last two episodes.”
Det Chief Insp Keats has intrigued the watching audience. Is he an agent of the devil, Satan himself or someone else entirely?
“It’s not an easy thing to do, to come into the show, especially at this point four series later. He certainly didn’t have an easy job, as well I know. And he just slotted right in. Keats is a really big, powerful character.
“Some of the scenes in episode eight – he asked the producer if they were going to CGI (computer generated imagery) some of what he had to do, because the stage directions are quite extreme for him.
“And, of course, he was told no, because we’re not Doctor Who. So he really has to take it quite far with Keats. It’s a big surprise. And he has his work cut out. I’ve got so much respect for him. I thought he was brilliant before but he really pulled it out of the bag and it’ll all be very exciting.
“People will probably come up with the ending before they see it. The clues are all there to be had. So it will become more and more apparent what’s going to happen.
“I think the one thing that people won’t get is the reason Alex is there. They all end up with an outcome as to why they’re there. And Alex does too. But it’s not one that any of us will have imagined.”
Extras from that same interview:
IT’S one of my abiding memories of Ashes To Ashes.
The sound of Keeley Hawes’ laughter in the corridor leading to the set in a former London biscuit factory.
I interviewed Ms Hawes for ITV’s The Blonde Bombshell way back in 1999.
The first of several encounters including, of course, her time as Zoe Reynolds in Spooks.
In my humble opinion she is one of the most talented and accomplished actresses you will ever be lucky enough to see.
Still able to laugh after months of 5:30am alarm calls to transform herself into Detective Inspector Alex Drake.
Leaving behind her husband – some young hopeful called Matthew Macfadyen – and children to create magic on screen.
Fans who have met Keeley tend to use the same words to describe her. Two of which are “delightful” and “gracious”.
Which made the personal media attacks on her during series one of Ashes all the more outrageous.
From critics who somehow forgot that she is an actress asked to play a role a certain way.
And from die-hard Life On Mars fans who should get over the fact that John Simm didn’t want to play Sam Tyler in a full third series.
In some sections of the media, it’s seen as clever and cool to slag someone off and be nasty to them.
Rather than tell the plain and simple truth.
I’ve interviewed thousands of people in my time – the good, the bad and the ugly.
And there’s no doubt that Keeley and the rest of the Ashes cast are class acts, both on and off screen.
She laughed a lot during our latest interview, published yesterday.
There wasn’t room to include everything in the full page feature.
So here, for those who are interested, are some of the parts of our chat that couldn’t be squeezed in.
Including a few fuller, expanded quotes to the ones edited down to fit in the feature.
As ever, I hope you’ll find this Ashes blog reasonably spoiler-free, if you have watched the first four episodes in this final series:
Avoiding photographers when filming the scenes for the very start of episode one in this final series, when Alex appears to be back in the modern day. First, in the TV superstore?
“It was Currys in Kingston. We did that at night, so the store was closed, obviously. There were only a couple of people working there who stayed on to look after it. So that was easy. We usually get the ‘paps’ over in east London where they know we’re going to be – a regular exterior location. So that was quite an easy one, really. And it was very quick and at night and there were no exteriors, which is where they usually catch us. And we were going in and out of the back of the car park. So that was all pretty safe.
“And then in Piccadilly Circus, where I’m standing in front of Eros, that was just incredible. It sort of looks like we’ve CGI’d the people out. But they were more than prepared for a bit of guerilla filming. It was very early, eight o’clock on a normal weekday morning and there were just very few people around. So that was a happy accident, really. It all worked quite well. It also looked like I could be shooting Identity (Keeleys’ forthcoming ITV1 drama series) or something else. It’s more when we’ve got all the eighties’ stuff on, they’re the pictures they want.”
The Uptown Girl fantasy sequence which opened episode two?
“That was hilarious. There were lots of rehearsals and it was supposed to be doing the dance through to the end. When it came to it, of course, it’s Ashes – there’s not time to do anything. We had to do it very quickly and something like that really needs a couple of days to get all the shots they want. And, of course, they can’t. So to cut a long story short, I ended up in the car doing that bit. But some of them are quite similar shots to the actual video!”
The script in-jokes when actress Beth Goddard – married to Philip Glenister in real life – guest starred in episode two as dating agency boss Elaine Downing?
(Lots of laughter) “That was great. ‘Is there a Mrs Hunt?’ It was very good. ‘Poor, poor woman.’ She’s fabulous.”
Near the end of the episode, Elaine plants a huge smacker of a kiss on a surprised Gene’s face?
“We all had a laugh that day. I love Beth. And it was nice, because Matthew had been in one of the episodes, it was nice to get Beth in as well and make it one big family affair.”
The extra focus on Ray (Dean Andrews), Chris (Marshall Lancaster) and Shaz (Montserrat Lombard) in this final series?
“It was really so nice for them all to have that opportunity. The rest of the cast are so brilliant and quite often the stories are all about Alex and Gene and they’re just continually brilliant. And so it was really nice for them to have meaty stuff to get their teeth into.”
It’s clear that filming this final series was a particularly emotional and draining final five months?
“In some ways it was a relief, to be perfectly honestly, I think for everybody. The boys have been on it for five years and with Dean coming up from Barnsley and Marshall from Macclesfield and not being with their families and all of that – that was especially difficult. So in some aspects there was a bit of relief.”
The arrival of Daniel Mays as Jim Keats, a character who fitted straight in to the Ashes mix within minutes of him appearing on screen. It seemed as if he’d been there all the time?
(Expanded quote): “Yes, it really did. And it’s not an easy thing to do, to come into the show, especially at this point four series later. He certainly didn’t have an easy job, as well I know. So there was lots of teasing going on with Danny, the new boy.”
Good to see that special relationship / bond between Alex and Shaz continuing?
(Expanded quote): “Yeah, ahhh…with all of them…it’s a bittersweet ending, I would say, without giving too much away. And I’m sure a lot of the people, because they take a lot of time and spend a lot of time thinking about it, people will probably come up with the ending before they see it. And, hopefully, that won’t be too disappointing to people. But, of course, that’s going to happen over a series of eight episodes. The clues are all there to be had. So it will become more and more apparent what’s going to happen.”
Some people forget that, at the end of the day, it’s a piece of television entertainment. It’s a drama..?
“Yes – it’s a drama! Yes. It’s a time-travelling drama! Yes. So I’m sure there’ll be letters from all sorts of people. There’ll be lots of blogging going on. But it’s nice that it fires people up one way or another. Better that than we have no reaction whatsoever.”
Alex probing the apparent 1980 death of Sam Tyler must be interesting to play?
“It is. Alex has been trying all this time…first she thought the riddle was solved through her parents’ murder and that would get her home. And then she thought…and so it’s gone on. So this is the final straw now. Now she’s gathering evidence and thinks. ‘Right, I’m going to solve this and then I’ll get home.’”
Keeley’s next TV drama – ITV1’s Identity – is due on screen this summer, after Ashes finishes – I’ll be attending the press launch next month. At the time of this interview, she was working on her new Boots No 7 campaign with Matthew finishing his West End stage stint in Private Lives tomorrow (Saturday May 1):
“Then he’s going on to do Any Human Heart for Channel 4. So when he’s working I try to stay fairly quiet, so one of us could get home. But I’d love to do a play, if somebody will have me. I’d very much like to do a play. So fingers crossed for that.”
What won’t you miss about Alex?
“Those 5:30am alarm calls! I won’t miss that.
“But almost everything else, I will.”