Arrow
SUPERHERO DRAMA Sky One HD, 8pm
Series seven begins with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) aka Arrow in jail for his vigilante activities and his hopes of getting a short sentence are soon dashed.
‘We’ve never taken a character and examined him the way we have with Oliver’
STEPHEN AMELL
IN THE LAST season of Arrow, Oliver Queen made the momentous decision to reveal his secret identity as the Green Arrow in an attempt to stop evil Ricardo Diaz from taking control of Star City.
Unfortunately for Oliver, Diaz escaped and teamed up with new villains the Longbow Hunters, while Oliver is now behind bars in Slabside Maximum Security Prison after striking a deal with the FBI.
Here, Stephen Amell, who plays the bow-wielding vigilante, tells us what’s in store as the show returns to Sky One…
WE FIND OLIVER VERY ISOLATED IN PRISON… There’s one episode where I spend the entire time in one room. We’ve never taken a character and isolated him and examined him psychologically the way we have with Oliver.
THE PRISON SCENES ARE REALLY GRITTY… He’s in prison with a bunch of people that he basically put there, including Brick [Vinnie Jones], who is kind of their ringleader. There’s also an inmate that I don’t think Oliver ever thought he would see again. He just wants to keep his head down and not get into trouble, but that doesn’t last long.
WE HAVE A FIGHT SCENE IN THE FIRST EPISODE THAT’S ONE OF OUR BEST STUNT ACHIEVEMENTS EVER… It was me for almost13 hours, just non-stop fighting. I like to do a lot of my own stunts and this was really something.
OLIVER MIGHT BE IN PRISON FOR LONGER THAN PEOPLE WOULD THINK… If he gets out of prison, I’ll be excited to see how he’ll interact back in Star City with people knowing his real identity.
OUTSIDE THE PRISON, DIAZ [KIRK ACEVEDO] HAS BEEN IN HIDING FOR FIVE MONTHS… But no one on the Arrow team is suiting up and going after him because that would obviously jeopardise everything that Oliver has sacrificed for them.
THERE’S A NEW CROSSOVER COMING UP… For the very first time, we’ll be fighting alongside Batwoman [played by Ruby Rose], which is terrific. She’s a new character who could end up with her own show, which would be amazing.
I AM DELIGHTED THAT THE WORLD OF GOTHAM WILL BE JOINING THE ARROWVERSE… When the producers pitched the crossover to me, I was like, ‘Oh man, that’s awesome!’ I would love every character in the DC Universe to be available to appear in the Arrowverse. Let’s have some fun!