Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Secrets of The Durrells
THE Durrells are back, bringing a little sunshine to the lives of six million viewers who tuned in as series three kicked off last week.
The story of a single mum raising four children on the Greek island of Corfu in the 30s has been a huge hit for ITV. The series is based on My Family and Other Animals, the memoirs of the British naturalist and zoologist Gerald Durrell.
Here, we take you behind the scenes to reveal the secrets of the show and tell you what is in store for the Durrells in the coming weeks.
The Durrells, ITV, Sunday, 8pm. Bosses try to film out of season to avoid the high temperatures and huge number of tourists who now flock to the island thanks to the series.
The third series was shot from March to June last year. Even when we visited in May, it was still hot work with average temperatures of 24C, meaning many scenes were shot early in the morning or in the evening.
The harbour scenes are filmed in Corfu Town, with crowds of people often watching the 150-strong crew at work.
Everything on set is made to recreate the 30s, with hundreds of items of vintage clothing sourced for the show. The new series kicked off with Leslie Durrell juggling three girlfriends. In the second episode, he decides which one he wants, but then gets the shock news that one of the girls is pregnant.
Callum Woodhouse, 22, who plays Leslie, says: “He is a bit of a Casanova. Three girls and they’re all really great. He’s seeing each one of them for a different reason. Unfortunately for him, one of them claims they are pregnant.
“It all blows up around him in this episode.
He is facing things he shouldn’t be dealing with at such a young age. We are going to see him mature a lot and do some growing up.
“You see a bit more of a sensitive, emotional side to Leslie, where he’ll start to doubt himself and have these little breakdowns.” Keeley Hawes, who plays the head of the Durrell clan, Louisa, got time to spend time with her own family when filming shifted to London for an episode.
Keeley, 42, says: “Louisa ends up having an adventure in London, which was great fun to A new family who arrive in episode five give Margo Durrell someone to look up to.
Daisy Waterstone, 23, who plays Margo, says: “Margo meets this girl called Clara (Antonia Desplat) from Italy, who is around the same age as she is, and is amazed at her natural beauty.
“As with any other teenage girl, she feels depressed by the fact she is not like that.
“It’s so true to so many young girls out there.
“That’s exactly how everyone film. We filmed in Richmond and it rained non-stop for 12 hours. They had booked rain machines but didn’t need them.
“It was a little odd to be back in England. As much as we love being in Greece, it was good to have that time at home.” feels. It’s very relatable to a lot of teenage girls and I certainly felt it growing up. So it was very easy to draw on that.” Josh O’connor, who plays Larry Durrell, has an adventure at sea in episode four.
Josh, 27, says: “They took this boat out with a little motor and we went in the middle of the ocean between Albania and Greece.”
The crew then left Josh, who had only sailed once before, all alone on the boat.
He says: “They filmed me from a distance. So I found myself in this weird position where I don’t know how to sail and I’m stuck alone in the middle of the ocean looking at Albania, looking back at Greece. I was totally isolated.
“There were a couple of hairy moments, but it was one of my favourite scenes to film.” Alexis Georgoulis, who plays Spiro, was already a huge star in Greece and has helped to make The Durrells become a big hit in his home country.
Alexis, 43, above with Keeley, says: “I don’t know how long The Durrells will go on for but I know I will go back to Corfu again, no matter what, because it really does feel like home.
“We get a lot of attention when we’re filming there now. Before the first series was screened, people recognised me because I’m a Greek actor.
“Now Keeley Hawes and the rest of the cast are well known because people have seen the series and they love it.
“They are part of the island now.”