TAKEN for a RIDE
TIMOTHY SPALL plays a train worker who takes a journey into the unknown
WHILE THE OPENING TWO episodes of Electric Dreams took us into futuristic worlds, this week’s instalment of the sci-fi anthology – inspired by Philip K. Dick’s short stories – is set in the less exotic location of Woking train station.
In The Commuter, Timothy Spall gives a touching performance as downtrodden train station attendant Ed Jacobson. He and his wife, Mary (Rebecca Manley), are struggling to look after their teenage son, Sam (Anthony Boyle), who has a psychotic disorder.
But when train passenger Linda (Tuppence Middleton) introduces Ed to a mysterious, seemingly idyllic village, his life is turned upside down. After seeking some answers from a journalist, Martine (Anne Reid), Ed sees the supposedly happy residents in a completely new light.
We caught up with Spall to hear more about the eerie tale…
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE The Commuter? It’s a science-fiction story with a massive personal and painful story underneath it. It has a combination of the mysterious, the outlandish and the emotional; I always think that makes for the best science fiction.
TELL US MORE ABOUT THE CHARACTER YOU PLAY Ed’s a seemingly very normal, very affable, cheerful man who works at Woking train station as a ticket-seller and station worker. He puts the best slant on everything, but actually his home life is very, very challenging because his young son and only child has a mental health problem – and it’s causing issues between him and his wife, Mary. HOW DOES ED DEAL WITH THAT? He’s always brushing it under the carpet and he tries to act like everything is alright, but it’s obviously not. He’s hoping the problem might resolve itself but it’s not going away. He is deeply unhappy and refuses to acknowledge it.
HOW DOES HIS SITUATION CHANGE? One day a very mysterious woman comes into the station and asks for a ticket to Macon Heights, a station or place that doesn’t exist. She’s disgruntled about not being sold a ticket and then she vanishes – but does the same the next day.
HOW DOES ED REACT? On a whim, after a particularly bad day at home, he jumps on the same train as the mysterious woman. During the journey, the train slows down, the doors open, and the passengers start jumping into a field. Ed’s compelled to follow them to this fascinating, strange village. He has a marvellous time, then goes home.
IS MACON HEIGHTS REALLY AS IDEAL AS IT SOUNDS? When Ed returns again, he’s warned that Macon Heights can get addictive. Ultimately, it’s not what it appears to be. WERE YOU ALREADY A FAN OF PHILIP K. DICK’S WORK BEFORE ACCEPTING THE ROLE OF ED? I hadn’t read any of his books, but I love the amazing movies which are based on his stories. Everything I thought about him from doing The Commuter turned out to be true; he is a master of joining together the emotional with the outlandish.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE THEMES THAT UNITE PHILIP K. DICK’S WORK?
I can’t speak for the other films in this series as I haven’t read the scripts, but I think what always sustains these flights of the imagination is the massive amount of humanity. However bizarre and outlandish some of the narratives are, you always get a sense that there is an investigation of the human condition within them.
WHAT WAS THE EXPERIENCE OF FILMING The Commuter LIKE? It was very demanding as I was in every scene and I was always trying to navigate Ed’s mysterious journey. It was also bloody freezing filming at the top of this hill in Poundbury – on the outskirts of Dorchester – but that’s what happens when you film in late winter in England.