It’s quite right that we leave the Durrells when the sun is still shining...
KEELEY HAWES, 43, SAYS IT WAS EMOTIONAL FILMING THE FINAL SUN-SOAKED EPISODES OF ITV SERIES THE DURRELLS AS MARION McMULLEN FINDS OUT ABOUT LEMURS, A PINK SHEEP AND A BARN OWL CALLED ULYSSESS
Was it hard saying goodbye to the animals who feature in The Durrells?
IT’S always a lot of fun with the animals. We have a barn owl called Ulysses, who was my favourite animal this series, and a pink sheep.
It felt slightly different this year because we knew it was the end.
You appreciated having the animals there probably more than we ever have done because it’s not something that will happen again.
Did all the animals behave themselves?
THERE’S a scene when my character, Louisa, is in bed with some lemurs on top of the bed. They were tame lemurs, but only in as much as you can tame a lemur. They basically do what they want.
It’s a really beautiful scene. They had nets over the top of the set so they couldn’t run up into the top of the stage. There is so much to think about when you’re filming with animals.
The lemurs are really watchable. You can’t take your eyes off them.
Another example where no one is going to be listening to a word we’re saying when there are lemurs running around.
They got very attached to the cameras. They could see their reflections in the lenses and thought there was another lemur there.
What’s it been like seeing the younger cast members grow up over the course of the series?
I’M 5ft 10ins and Milo (Parker) is now almost as tall as me. There’s an inch or so in it, but there wasn’t much difference by the end of filming.
He’s also got a lower voice. I first realised his voice
had broken at the end of the last series when he went on a breakfast show with Daisy Waterstone.
This young man opened his mouth and somebody else’s voice came out. That was very odd.
He’s certainly grown up. There’s a moustache there. But Milo was always very mature. His character Gerry also gets long trousers later in the series.
Louisa is not ready for that. I recognise that as a parent myself.
It’s just awful how fast they grow up, but Milo looks great in those long trousers. He wears them well.
How was it filming the final scenes of this farewell series? THE actual final scene of the whole show in Corfu we filmed a few weeks before we finished.
That was the most emotional. It involved all of the main players and we knew it was the end. That was very sad. It was quite tricky to hold that together.
We all had a round of applause afterwards and lots of hugs.
That scene stands out because it is the actual final scene of the series. Whe Where do we find Louisa as the new series begins? LOUISA is now running the house as a high grade guest house.
With a new ‘penthouse’ floor, which came off the back of Larry writing an article and encouraging people to come to Corfu, slightly under false pretences.
But Louisa decides to make the most of that and tries to turn it into another one of her money spinners. She is actually very good at it.
Louisa Durrell was a brilliant cook and obviously loved surrounding herself with people. She was a real people person.
I think that comes across really well in the first episode of this series.
What was it like learning some Greek dancing this time around? THE Greek dancing was fine. I had to do a nice little dance with Milo, which we enjoyed. We had lessons with a choreographer.
It was quite nerve-racking, quite tricky, trickier than it looks, but good fun. And then, of course, as with any sort of filming you only see a tiny little bit of it having worked on it for weeks.
It’s really nice to see that side of Corfu. We’ve never really done that.
It’s the full thing. Headdresses, dresses and all of it. We went all out.
Is there a darker undertone to the fourth series with the Second World War looming?
THE outbreak of war was very close at this time and Corfu was eventually invaded and occupied.
We’ve reached the spring of 1939 and the storm clouds have gathered around them.
The war is on the horizon. They have to accept that and move on, but it’s still the sunny Durrells that we love. That is so much part of the show. The sunshine and that beautiful Corfu light. The sea and the locations are almost another character. And so it is quite right that we leave with the sun shining.
I think this is the strongest series of all four. We were able to throw everything at it.
I hope people love the episodes as much as we loved making them. We feel we’ve done The Durrells proud and we hope other people do too.
Will viewers be happy at how The Durrells story ends?
I’M SO pleased we were able to tell the story and take it through to its natural end just before most of them left Corfu. It feels like the right thing to have done.
Not only selfishly for us but also because it’s such a brilliant story for the viewers. It’s a very satisfying end.
Of course, it didn’t end for the Durrells there. They then went off and, in fact, their lives became even more interesting if that could be possible. Their adventures went up a gear. But for this part of their story it feels like we’ve done them proud. It’s a lovely ending.
Did you have any souvenirs? WE ALL kept one of our aprons afterwards. It’s got Kaliméra on it, which means ‘good morning’ – all hand stitched by our fabulous costume department.
■ The Durrells airs on Sunday on ITV at 8pm.