It's a fine line to make a racism funny. People can see, 'Wow, that dude's got problems'

Intelligence, written by and starring Nick Mohammed, sees David Schwimmer play a bigoted American agent working in the UK at GCHQ. GEORGIA HUMPHREYS asks them about finding humour in sensitive subjects

FEW TV shows have been as successful as Friends. The US sitcom made its stars household names the world over. So, getting recognised by the British public is something that David Schwimmer – who played Ross Geller in the series – has come to expect.

“I have learned how to be invisible at times, and then there are times that are more challenging,” admits the 59-year-old actor and director, who was born in New York.

“But everyone’s super nice; luckily the show was a real success here, for the most part, it’s just a lot of love.”

He never actually says the word ‘Friends’, but it’s pretty obvious that’s the show he’s referring to.

We’re chatting on the set of his latest project, Sky One comedy, Intelligence.

The backdrop is the Government Communications Headquarters – an intelligence and security organisation commonly known as GCHQ – where they tackle international and domestic cyber crime from a desk.

And David – also known for his role in drama, The People v OJ Simpson:

American Crime Story – plays brash maverick American NSA agent Jerry Bernstein, who moves from the US to join the team.

Starring alongside him, as inept computer analyst Joseph Harries, is Nick Mohammed, 39, who also created and wrote the show.

“The premise is that it’s quite a British institution, and the shake-up that happens when David’s character comes from the NSA – the culture clash,” explains the Leeds-born comedian, who voiced Piglet in the film Christopher Robin.

This is not a parody show, he points out. GCHQ is a real institution, that deals with serious issues. He explains he wanted to handle the subject matter “properly and tastefully”.

“We felt it would be strange if we weren’t referencing occasionally real-life atrocities – but never to poke fun. I think we just wanted to make it feel as real as possible, and that we might have to deal with the aftereffects of very horrible things.”

He elaborates: “Because their chief thing is fighting cyber crime and combating computer viruses and database breaches, I guess there’s a slight detachment from an event like the Manchester bombing. It’s not to say that there are places that we wouldn’t go... you know, we reference 9/11.”

“Yeah, there are a couple of jokes in there that are right on the edge, like, ‘Can we make this joke?”’ David chimes in.

“But our feeling is, ‘Let’s shoot it and we’ll decide in the edit’.”

Jerry is patriotic, and hugely critical of any country outside the US. David notes he’s finding him “a cathartic character to play at the moment”.

“All the things I might be upset about that are happening in my country and in some quarters, I can play – and try to embody the type of person that is racist and sexist and misogynist and homo