Writers Harry And Jack Williams Talk BBC’s Baptiste Series Two

A Man Broken

The BBC’s detective show Baptiste just came back for a second series and here’s its writers Harry and Jack Williams talking about the new run…

Where do we find the character of Julien Baptiste at the start of series 2?

When we meet Julien Baptiste, he is a broken man, and he is not the detective we know and love. In this series we have the past and present, much as we did in The Missing, so we go back to 14 months earlier and Julien ends up seeing on the news this ambassador at the British embassy in Hungary, whose family is missing, and he goes to find out what happened.

What is it like to film in Budapest and why there?

Budapest as a place, whilst being very filmic and interesting visually, has a lot about it, where it is politically. There are forces that are changing the world now and they are reflected very acutely in Hungary and thematically that was very important to the story. Our rule when deciding where to write this series was, could it be anywhere else? and if so then we haven’t done our job. This story would not work if it were not filmed in Budapest.

Can you tell us about the more contemporary issues featured in the story?

Baptiste explores quite a lot of dark things which are very current in the world now politically, and we did quite a lot of research into brainwashing. We read and watched a lot to try and understand how someone can change their political mindset and do things they would not normally do. How does someone turn into that? A lot of it is about extremism in all its forms; politically, personally, extreme viewpoints, extreme decisions.

Tell us about the character of Emma Chambers.

We first meet Emma during a holiday with her family where everything is fairly normal, all be it a few tensions under the surface and silly arguments with her kids. We come to learn that she is the British Ambassador for Hungary and that the tragedy in her family’s past is much more significant and bigger than we ever realised.

Tell us about Emma and Richard Chambers’ marriage.

There is tension within the marriage, but not more so than there would be in any other marriage. We get a sense of tragedy and history. It is complicated but we do get the sense that they very much care about each other.

Emma Chambers and Julien Baptiste’s relationship is an interesting one, can you talk more about that?

When Julien turns up Emma has an interesting reaction. For a start, she knows about him and what he has achieved during his career as a detective, so if anyone is going to find out what happened to her family it’s going to be him. On another level, one she does not immediately recognise, she can see in him that emotionally theirs is a shared conquest. They have both lost their whole family and this journey is for both of them to try to figure out what happened to their respective others.

Can you tell us about working with Tchéky Karyo?

Tchéky is not like Julien, but then he also is. He is a very charming, lyrical, loving and passionate person. Tchéky has a magnetic personality and that is what he shares with the character Julien. You want to spend time with these people, and you feel good around them.

Tchéky and Julien are now one and the same. When we first cast him he brought so much to the role, and then over the years he’s become so much a part of why we write what we write, and the way Tchéky performs it, he’s an integral part of why Julien is who he is.

Tell us about working with Fiona Shaw.

Casting Fiona was one of those instances where you think she will say no, and she didn’t, and it is just a joy watching her. She delivers so much more than what is on the page. She is charming, intelligent and brings so much to the character that we couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it.

A lot of the time when a tragedy has happened and you go to the police it creates a dependent relationship between people. Whereas, what is good about Julien and Emma is they are total equals, and she goes toe to toe with him. Emma is incredibly intelligent, formidable, and capable, all of which Fiona is and does, and there is so much more going on.

What is it about this character of Baptiste that audiences love?

It is Tchéky mainly. He’s not a face that British audiences are familiar with, he did a lot of Hollywood films in the 90s so it’s not often there’s someone that well established that you’re not as familiar with, so he’s breath of fresh air. Tchéky’s different and he is the character and the one you want to spend time with.

Can you tell us a bit more about the supporting cast?

Alongside the two leads, we have a big international cast, big faces and ones that are not as familiar. It was such a good opportunity to cast the net wide and get brilliant actors who we don’t know as well.

How will this resonate with a modern audience?

It explores themes of extremism. It is a complex and sophisticated storytelling about a world we do not see very often on TV.

Why did you decide on two time frames within the series?

It is a bit of a gift. In a mystery and a thriller, you are looking for twists and turns and surprises. The minute you cut to a period of time later, there is a bit of intrigue there because you are wondering what the hell happened! It throws up questions in a helpful way in terms of telling the story.