Phil's bark for more
Philip Glenister who
won acclaim as the tough 70s cop from Life on Mars, shows his softer side as
Quinn in a new series of comedy-thriller Mad Dogs. And, he says, what makes the
show great is having your pals – and a girlfriend.
In the new series of Mad Dogs, Philip Glenister finds himself put in a headlock by a girl. It would never have happened to Gene Hunt, the iconic 70s cop from Life on Mars.
Not the he’s complaining. For one, the girl is played by Jamie Winstone, daughter of movie tough guy Ray, so she is obviously not to be messed with. For another, at 50, he’s too long in the tooth to care what anybody thinks and besides, he’s among some of his most trusted pals – co-stars Max Beesley, John Simm and Marc Warren.
Philip said, “The nice thing with a show like this is that we’re among friends. That’s the secret of making good work – surrounding yourself with the best people.
Friendship with all its ups and downs, lies at the heart of Mad Dogs, which returns for a third series on Sky 1 this week. The series has followed Quinn (Glenister), Woody (Beesley), Baxter (Simm) and Rick (Warren), since they went to Majorca for a pal’s retirement party and got caught up with gangsters, drugs and a bag of marked millions.
Last time we saw them they were en route to what they thought was mainland Spain on the first stage of a journey they hopes would take them back home but, when they docked in Morocco to be met by armed guards, it was clear a new chapter in a holiday from hell was starting.
The story picks up with the four held captive in a dilapidated prison in the desert, all enduring various forms of torture and interrogation.
Philip said, “Well, we ended the second series in Morocco and at the beginning of the third we are just in more shit really – that’s the only way to describe it. Because of all sorts of reasons we have to move out to South Africa and we don’t see each other for a while until the story cuts drastically to two years in the future. We see how the friendship between them works and how some are more reliant than others. The characters come out much more in this, what they are actually about as people. It’s also funny and melancholic as well. It’s very moving in places, some of the scenes, and it’s awkward in that way that only male friends can be – do you just shake hands or do you hug? It’s got all those little elements going on.”
Mad Dogs, which launched in 2011 and received a BAFTA nomination for best drama serial has been a critical and commercial success. A fourth, and final, series has already been commissioned but the move to South Africa after two series in Majorca is something of a game changer. But Philip, who has appeared in in dramas including ‘Cranford’, ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Hidden’ as well as movie ‘Bel Ami’ in which he co-starred with Uma Thurman and Robert Pattinson, is always up for a challenge. He said, “We had to move, we couldn’t stay in Majorca. So we need to crank up, move it on a pace and move locations, which works really well. I think these are the best scripts so far. South Africa is great. This place is used so much for film and TV.”
There’s another change as Quinn meets a girl, at the actors request. He said, “That was one of my requirements for series three. I said to then, ‘I want a very nice car, some nice clothes and a bird’. I just thought we should give Quinn a lady and they cast this wonderful actress, Sylvie who plays Christina, but I don’t know she might turn out to be not all she is meant to be. It was nice to see him interact and get a bit of action.”
He’s already looking forward to the fourth series which he hopes will see them go out on a high. He said: “I’m up for it. It’s a great Job and we feel confident about this series being the best.”
Mad Dogs is on Sky1 on Tuesday at 9pm.
In the new series of Mad Dogs, Philip Glenister finds himself put in a headlock by a girl. It would never have happened to Gene Hunt, the iconic 70s cop from Life on Mars.
Not the he’s complaining. For one, the girl is played by Jamie Winstone, daughter of movie tough guy Ray, so she is obviously not to be messed with. For another, at 50, he’s too long in the tooth to care what anybody thinks and besides, he’s among some of his most trusted pals – co-stars Max Beesley, John Simm and Marc Warren.
Philip said, “The nice thing with a show like this is that we’re among friends. That’s the secret of making good work – surrounding yourself with the best people.
Friendship with all its ups and downs, lies at the heart of Mad Dogs, which returns for a third series on Sky 1 this week. The series has followed Quinn (Glenister), Woody (Beesley), Baxter (Simm) and Rick (Warren), since they went to Majorca for a pal’s retirement party and got caught up with gangsters, drugs and a bag of marked millions.
Last time we saw them they were en route to what they thought was mainland Spain on the first stage of a journey they hopes would take them back home but, when they docked in Morocco to be met by armed guards, it was clear a new chapter in a holiday from hell was starting.
The story picks up with the four held captive in a dilapidated prison in the desert, all enduring various forms of torture and interrogation.
Philip said, “Well, we ended the second series in Morocco and at the beginning of the third we are just in more shit really – that’s the only way to describe it. Because of all sorts of reasons we have to move out to South Africa and we don’t see each other for a while until the story cuts drastically to two years in the future. We see how the friendship between them works and how some are more reliant than others. The characters come out much more in this, what they are actually about as people. It’s also funny and melancholic as well. It’s very moving in places, some of the scenes, and it’s awkward in that way that only male friends can be – do you just shake hands or do you hug? It’s got all those little elements going on.”
Mad Dogs, which launched in 2011 and received a BAFTA nomination for best drama serial has been a critical and commercial success. A fourth, and final, series has already been commissioned but the move to South Africa after two series in Majorca is something of a game changer. But Philip, who has appeared in in dramas including ‘Cranford’, ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Hidden’ as well as movie ‘Bel Ami’ in which he co-starred with Uma Thurman and Robert Pattinson, is always up for a challenge. He said, “We had to move, we couldn’t stay in Majorca. So we need to crank up, move it on a pace and move locations, which works really well. I think these are the best scripts so far. South Africa is great. This place is used so much for film and TV.”
There’s another change as Quinn meets a girl, at the actors request. He said, “That was one of my requirements for series three. I said to then, ‘I want a very nice car, some nice clothes and a bird’. I just thought we should give Quinn a lady and they cast this wonderful actress, Sylvie who plays Christina, but I don’t know she might turn out to be not all she is meant to be. It was nice to see him interact and get a bit of action.”
He’s already looking forward to the fourth series which he hopes will see them go out on a high. He said: “I’m up for it. It’s a great Job and we feel confident about this series being the best.”
Mad Dogs is on Sky1 on Tuesday at 9pm.
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