Hit comedy King Gary returns to rule the airwaves once again
The characters in King Gary have been a big hit with viewers. Stars Tom Davis and Laura Checkley tell GEORGIA what series two has in store
IT is the day after England’s win against Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final and King Gary star Tom Davis is feeling a bit worse for wear.
“I’m feeling very happy, joyous, emotional – but very tender,” admits the huge football fan when we chat.
“I’m 42 and I feel every year.”
We now know things didn’t go England’s way in the final, losing on penalties to Italy. But, like many, Tom had an incredible time watching the Three Lions this summer.
For the game against Germany, he was at Wembley with his childhood friend and colleague James De Frond. Having previously created Murder In Successville together, they co-write King Gary, which James also directs.
While at the stadium, Tom got a sense of the love
HUMPHREYS
people have for his BBC sitcom – in which he plays the titular character, while Laura Checkley plays the love-of-hislife Terri – as fans came up to him in the stands.
“The wide range of people, from so many different backgrounds, who identified with Gary and Terri – I was really proud of that,” says the 6ft 7in star, who used to work as a builder before rising to fame as a comic.
The heart-warmingly funny show, which is returning for a second series, is set in the outer London suburbs, where drama-queen and ‘geezer diva’ Gary King lives with Terri and their son Teddy, and follows the trials and tribulations of the family and their friends.
Gary is always desperate to impress his dad, Big Gary (played by Simon Day), and the neighbours – but is not always that successful.
The new episodes see Gary and Terri finally try to tie the knot – and there is yet more love in the air, as Terri has her sights on setting Stuart (Romesh Ranganathan) up with a pal of hers.
“It’s all about the build-up to the wedding – that’s always there, bubbling underneath,” teases Detectorists’ star Laura. “In the last series it was quite episodic; you could tune in one episode and it was a story in itself. But this has a big arc, so it has a big payoff at the end.”
Laura adds series two also “has loads more heart”, while Tom admits he thinks he and James have been a bit “braver” with their scripts.
Was there any trepidation going into the new episodes, knowing they had the success of series one to live up to?
“I’m very hard on myself; me and James have always been like that from the moment we started this journey,” says Tom.
“I went back and there are elements of series one that I thought could have been a lot better.
“James is an incredible director, he’s an incredible maker of comedy shows, and we’re blessed with an incredible cast which we’ve added to this year.
“But the thing that starts everything is the writing, and that’s down to me and James going, ‘How do we make this as strong as it can be?’”
“To have something to live up to, that’s just an honour,” he continues.
“People are taking these characters to their hearts and so you want to do them justice.
“This show was only made because it was made from the heart, and it’s about people that we love and people who we grew up with.”
Laura agrees she felt the pressure too.
“But with lockdown, we all felt so incredibly lucky to be there that I just thought, ‘Laura, calm down. Everyone loves this, the script’s brilliant. Just do your job and enjoy every minute’.
“I wanted to be even better than the first series. And this script that the boys gave us, it’s so clever; it’s such a big ensemble, yet everyone gets their moment and their storyline.”
King Gary returns to BBC1 on Friday, July 30, at 9.30pm