Boat Story’s Craig Fairbrass worried about backlash to violent scene
The opening episode contains a gory sequence that some viewers may find distressing. *SPOILER ALERT*
Boat Story star Craig Fairbrass has said he did worry about potential backlash to a graphically violent scene in episode 1, in which his henchman Guy commits a massacre at a police station.
The villainous character works for a brutal crime boss known as The Tailor (Tcheky Karyo) and is sent to the sleepy coastal town of Applebury to retrieve a lost shipment of cocaine.
He wastes no time getting to work on that mission, committing the single most horrifying crime to ever take place in the fictional locale and leaving local law enforcement scrambling for answers.
Viewers might have been left shocked by just how gory and disturbing the attack is, however, with blood splatter and numerous terrified victims seen across the sequence.
RadioTimes.com asked Fairbrass if he was nervous the scene would have a negative reaction or prompt people to turn off.
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"It did cross my mind. I’ll be brutally honest, it really did cross my mind," he began. "But I thought to myself, from watching what Jack and Harry had done, I knew that it was going to be super stylised… in a way that it was part of the story.
"These guys have come up from London, they had their orders, you know? But no, it was just one of those things. Sometimes when you’re filming, you do a scene and… it’s on your mind but you just do what you got to do."
The actor, known for the Rise of the Footsoldier film series and a recent turn in Netflix's One Piece, went on to clarify that there's more to Guy than what we see in this opening chapter – praising the work of creators Harry and Jack Williams.
Fairbrass added: "Guy is so ruthless... he takes no prisoners whatsoever. But you really get to know him and you get to know his little idiosyncrasies, his vulnerability.
"He's got a chink in his armour which makes him so interesting. It's not just [violence] and that's the beauty of their writing."
Boat Story stars Paterson Joseph (Vigil) and Daisy Haggard (Breeders) as two strangers, who steal a huge stash of cocaine in the hopes that selling it on could change their lives forever.
Boat Story continues on Monday 20th November 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
