Vicky McClure struggled to get her ‘s**t together’ filming Action Team
The actress swaps detective drama for crazy comedy in Tom Davis’ bonkers new ITV2 spy series
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to embrace the silliness of Action Team, a new six-part spy spoof from the fevered mind of Murder In Successville’s Tom Davis.
“It’s The Naked Gun meets The Bourne Trilogy with big jokes and big action sequences,” says writer and star Tom.
“ITV2 have the big action films on, but also Family Guy, so we wanted to follow that.
"Every year I sit there as the bookies predict who they think will play the next James Bond and I’m always left off the list, so I decided to do something about it.”
The fast-paced show is aimed at younger audiences, and Tom plays two roles – Logan, who is the heroic leader of a top-secret team of British Government special agents, and their arch nemesis, Russian baddie Vlad.
He reveals that music was a big help to get him into two different mindsets during filming.
“For Logan, it was Ed Sheeran,” he smiles. “For Vlad, AC/DC.”
Action Team’s boss at MI6 is Ruth Brooks, played by Line Of Duty’s Vicky McClure.
“Me and Tom know each other, and he rang me and said: ‘Can I send you a script?’” explains the 34-year-old actress.
“I was a few pages in and hadn’t even got to my role when I rang him back and said: ‘I’m in.’ It was a dream job, especially because I do so much serious stuff.”
But while the Nottingham-born actress had a blast working with the show’s cast – which also includes Detectorists’ Laura Checkley and The Missing’s Derek Riddell – she admits there was one big challenge: keeping a straight face during filming.
“It’s difficult because I’m watching a live show,” confides Vicky. “I’m surrounded by actors who are all hilarious, and I really struggled to keep my s**t together!”
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