PENNYWORTH S2
BATMAN’S BUTLER RETURNS FOR A DARKER SERVING OF PENNYWORTH…
At last, Batman’s batman returns to bat. Man!
THIS TIME IT’S CIVIL WAR
The second season of DC-inspired crime saga Pennyworth picks up one year after the first. England is now embroiled in civil war, with the Raven Union fascists – led by Jason Flemyng’s nasally challenged Lord Harwood – continuing to sweep across the country.
“Everyone is really impacted by the civil war,” says actor Ben Aldridge, who returns as Thomas Wayne (aka Batman’s father-to-be). “It intensified and escalated everyone’s situations.” Wayne has now been promoted to CIA station chief, “which is this poisoned chalice,” adds Aldridge. “The power, he’s seduced by that, but he’s unfortunately forced to carry out the decision-making process, which aligns the CIA with the Raven Union.”
SOHO MISSION
When Season 2 kicks off, Alfred Pennyworth – the former SAS soldier and, of course, Batman’s future manservant – is looking after The Delaney, a glitzy club in the middle of what’s called the Soho Neutral Zone.
“The events of Season 1 have taken their toll and he’s a lot more closed off,” says Jack Bannon, who’s back as Alfred. “He’s disillusioned with life, and certainly not the happy chap he was at the start of Season 1.” With the show now shot at the UK’s Leavesden Studios, this alternate London was entirely created on soundstages. “We had a selection of streets, in between [the sets for] the latest Mission: Impossible and Fantastic Beasts,” laughs Bannon, “which was bizarre but great!”
OEDIPAL COMPLEXITIES
[SPOILER ALERT!] In the final ep of S1, Alfred killed his father, who was involved in a plot to blow up the Queen. “He’s in this Oedipal situation,” says the show’s creator, Bruno Heller. “Freud and all those guys would have a lot to say about the symbolic killing of your father. You need to do that to become a man. But it also takes away the innocence of youth.” Alfred now has a mind to head to America with his mother and army mates Dave Boy and Bazza. “That’s really his journey,” adds Heller, “deciding where he belongs and who he is.”
LEAP OF FAITH
Everyone’s favourite sociopath Bet Sykes returns, now overseeing prisoners at the Raven Union detention centre in Norwich. “She’s been promoted for her loyalty,” explains actor-singer Paloma Faith. Swapping the Myra Hindley-inspired blonde locks of S1 for a redheaded look, she’s now in an imposing fascist uniform. “I wanted authority and a bit of power,” grins Faith. “And the uniform inflated that ego in me. I was pleased to have it!” Heller remains wholly impressed by the way Faith has made Sykes her own. “It’s not so much she grew into the part. She just inhabited it immediately,” he says. “Like a squatter breaking into Buckingham Palace.”
ORWELL DONE
The Batman mythology may lurk in the background, but right now Thomas and Martha Kane (Emma Paetz) are barely flirting, let alone conceiving Bruce Wayne. All of which means there’s plenty of time for S2 to explore its alt-1960s universe. “Because it’s DC London, there are no rules,” says Bannon. Early on, we see George Orwell (Ben Fox) being tortured. There’s also the return of debauched occultist Aleister Crowley (Jonjo O’Neill). “He’s got quite a big hand in Season 2,” reveals Aldridge. “Basically, him and Thomas are forced to confront each other again. He’s a strange kind of satanic evil presence and he provides some interesting twists to the story...” James Mottram