A Discovery of Witches star teases the upcoming final series: ‘Hopefully we end it well’
Edward Bluemel, who plays vampire Marcus in the hit Sky series, lifts the lid on COVID-friendly series three filming – and what fans can expect from the end of the Deborah Harkness adaptation.
A Discovery of Witches season two finally arrived in January 2021 over two years after the first series concluded – and it wasn’t just the fans who were relieved to see the fantasy romance return.
“You know you start to feel the pressure of the fans, and everyone really wants it to come out, and you really don't want it to miss the wave that series one was riding on,” Edward Bluemel, who plays vampire Marcus in the series, told RadioTimes.com.
“So yeah, I'm thrilled that it's finally been able to come out, and people seem to have really enjoyed it so far, which is fantastic to see. And it's nice that, you know, all the fans have been patient with us and let it have the time it needed to be right before getting released.”
Happily, for fans this series seems to have been worth the wait – but with all 10 episodes binged, some are already turning towards what’s next. At time of writing A Discovery of Witches is currently deep into filming on its third and final series, which will conclude the story of vampire/witch lovers Matthew and Diana (Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer) and the characters surrounding them (including Marcus) as Sky adapts the final book in Deborah Harkness’ All Soul’s trilogy.
“We're nearly done - three weeks or so left, I think?” Bluemel said.
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“We're all sort of coming to the end now and filming a lot of the last bits so yeah, it's sort of winding down. But it's gone well, it's gone smoothly I think. I think we've made something that's really good.
“I think we see the sort of results of [Marcus] gaining responsibility in series two, which is good. We see him take control, really fight his corner for what he believes in, and become a bit of a leader, really.”
Of course, current coronavirus guidelines mean that filming for the new episodes is rather different than the last time Bluemel played Marcus – though apparently, the restrictions aren’t quite as off-putting as we might think.
“You know what, it was much easier from my point of view than would be initially thought,” he told us. “It's just that everyone's wearing masks, they're social distancing, you get tested twice a week. But other than that it's actually worked quite well. It's been obviously a big change, but everybody adapted to it very quickly.
“The strangest part of it is, I don't know what half the crew members' faces look like. And occasionally I'll see one of them having a sip of tea, or a cigarette on a cigarette break, and I'll be like 'Oh my God, I did not think your mouth looked like that!
“The other thing is, I've occasionally met someone who I actually know, and they've come on, and I haven't realised that I've known them because I can't see their face if they're in like a hat and a mask - and that can be quite embarrassing as well.”
Still, despite any difficulties the cast are just happy to be making this last series at all – and apparently, hopes are high that they can pull off this last challenge.
“I think there is definitely a bit of an edge to that as you film it, the other day we filmed a scene that will be I think one of the last scenes in the entire series, and that sort of had a strange last day of school feeling about it, even though it wasn't the last scene we were filming in the whole thing,” Bluemel said.
“It will be sad. It's been a big part of my life for over half of my acting career, really. I left drama school in 2015 I think, and got cast in this a year and a half later. So it'll be strange to be back in the world as an actor without Discovery of Witches.
“Hopefully the way that we end it will end it well, and sort of do the books and the fans justice.”
He added: “I would hope it’ll come out more quickly than the last one, certainly!”
Sky original series A Discovery of Witches season two is streaming on Sky and NOW TV. Want something else to watch? Check out our full TV Guide.
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.