It’s time to trade underground for overground as hit series returns
Star Mark Strong and the crew of Temple talk sets, surgery and shooting in empty London during lockdown, with
FOR many people, the past 18 months have been plagued by uncertainty, travel restrictions and unprecedented work disruption.
For the cast and crew of returning Sky Original crime drama Temple, it proved a prime opportunity to take advantage of the nation’s quiet city streets, transforming a near deserted London into their own personal playground.
Mark Strong, who returns as a surgeon determined to save his dying wife, even if that means agreeing to treat criminals and others for cash in a highly illegal secret underground clinic, says: “I was amazed that we were able to film a late-night scene of me staggering around drunk in Shaftesbury Avenue and then end up at Piccadilly Circus and be able to do it without any problems – that would be impossible at any other time.” The Londoner and Bafta nominee, best known for his roles in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Kingsman and 1917, adds: “We were able to show the city that we love. “We were lucky – conversely during this terrible time of Covid – to actually be able to shoot those sequences.” Temple is intrinsically linked to the London Underground station of the same name. With series one depicting rogue surgeon Daniel Milton (Strong) who runs his clinic while attempting to save his gravely ill wife Beth (Catherine McCormack) – the show operates from the confines of his shady bunker, situated directly beneath the bustling transport hub.
Entering series two, Temple’s creators have quite literally turned the show on its head by venturing into the outside world.
With reduced crowds and traffic granting the crew access to locations normally deemed off-limits, the race was on to capitalise on the lull created by the lockdowns.
Taking to the streets of Chinatown, the rooftops of Liverpool Street and the abandoned tram network beneath Holborn, the freedom to film came as something of a surprise to the show’s lead director, Christopher Smith.
“We don’t know how, but we got onto the rooftop of Liverpool Street Station,” says Christopher, who also directed the horror movies Severance and Creep. “We sort of said ‘can we go up there’... Maybe the staff had nothing to do because no one was travelling but we suddenly found ourselves with a camera, shooting.
“Bar Italia is somewhere that is always full; this 24-hour cafe never closes and suddenly we can film in there.”
Mark is once again joined by Daniel Mays (Line of Duty) and
Emmy nominee Carice van Houten (Game Of Thrones), but the addition of Bafta winner Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man) as underworld fixer Gubby adds an entirely new level of peril.
With Christopher describing Rhys’ character as a “tier up” from the criminal fixers of series one, Gubby becomes both Daniel’s co-conspirator and a “type of nemesis”.
As we pick up the story, Beth wakes from her coma and demands answers, while Daniel wants to forget the bunker ever existed and reunite his family. But when his wrongdoing catches up with him, he is in danger of losing everything.
Temple returns to Sky Max on October 28 at 9pm and will be available to stream on NOW