The opening of Inside Men is a stunning piece of television that has you gripped from the start as the Counting House that John (played by Steven MacKintosh) manages is infiltrated by a gang of robbers in a brutal manner, all the while the voice-over of John explaining the protocol of an attack in a calm manner as the music score keeps you gripped to the fate of this man from the start.
I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the brave outlook shown in allowing the violent scenes and a drama of this manner to be commissioned. Some might say a bit too violent, but in reality, I doubt many robbers are going to be concerned with the welfare of the staff. However…a new element is added when we discover that it’s the staff who are in fact the ones doing the heist and we go back and forwards in time to show the planning and how the heist came about.
John is mild-mannered and a bit of a walk over afraid of confrontation, he never takes risks and even makes up missing money for an easy life. He has become stuck in a routine, where his work, and his marriage to Kirsty (Nicola Walker) although nothing wrong with them have become tedious. However that changes when he realises two of his employees Marcus (Warren Brown) and Chris (Ashley Walters) have stolen fifty thousand pounds. Instead of reporting them he decides to join them in stealing, but only for all the cash of the counting house, and so the planning for the heist begins.
All the characters are likable. Marcus is a forklift driver at the counting house; he’s a happy-go-lucky guy, who doesn’t think through his actions first, he lives with his girlfriend Gina (Kierston Wareing) and has a failed hairdressing business. It’s Marcus who comes up with the idea first, he wants to give his girlfriend the luxury lifestyle, he just doesn’t have the brains to know how to do it without getting caught, unlike John and Chris. Chris is a security guard at the depot who starts a relationship with 17 year-old Dita (Leila Mimmack) after she gets fired from her job for stealing, he’s also dealing with an alcoholic mother, but things are set to change for him as he gets shot in the leg in the heist.
Most of the cast have appeared in Luther or TopBoy, both great dramas. The cast is first-rate, as is the script, and production, so far it’s certainly shaping up to be the best drama of 2012. I’d even go as far as to say It even tips Sherlock. There’s a moral dilemma for the viewer as much as we know the heist is wrong, you can’t help but want them to get away with it. If they do remains to be seen; the BBC has commissioned a gem in Inside Men and I can’t wait to see the rest.
Jan 23
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As a Nicola Walker fan and Spooks fan, it was of course of interest to me when I heard Nicola Walker would be joining the cast of BBC1’s Inside Men. I was even more excited when I discovered Warren Brown, Ashley Walters and Steven Mackintosh would also be apart of the main cast all wonderful […]
Here is the trailer released by the BBC for Inside Men, starring, Steven Mackintosh, Ashley Walters, Warren Brown, Nicola Walker and Kierston Wareing.
Can you describe your character and her relationship with Marcus?
Marcus and Gina are very much in love and happy together. They have a lot of fun. Marcus is the dreamer in the relationship. He has big plans but they always go wrong, whereas Gina has got her head screwed on a little more when it comes to the crunch.
She’s a hairdresser and wears lairy clothes and always has different hairstyles. Her outfits are quite fun and they represent her well. Everything is going well for her. She has a partner who she loves, a great career that she enjoys, so the future does look bright. But then all that changes.
How has this role been different to your previous roles?
Gina is not as down trodden as the other roles I’ve played, and she laughs and smiles a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled in anything before! Gina’s partner loves her and she loves him. I always get usually the men who are cheating or messing around and my character is trying to hold the relationship together.
Can you empathise with Gina and why she’s so tolerant of Marcus’s ways?
I would worry if I was with someone who was in a dream world, always making grand plans that fall flat and have dire consequences. I would have to intervene and try and make them see sense. Gina can sense Marcus is up to something early on, something big. This time though it’s going to be different. Rather than wait for it all to go wrong, she wants in and she wants everything running past her. She doesn’t want to see Marcus getting walked over and pushed out of the way. She ends up getting more involved than I think she bargained for.
What are the motivations for carrying out the heist?
Each character has their different motivations, but for Steven’s character (John) it is definitely about the power. He’s been walked over all his life. He’s been bullied practically all his life and has no back bone. He’s got a great character going on there, John has a perfect life but it’s boring. He’s got the wife and now a child but everything is routine. I can understand why he completely turns and I think that’s a fantastic transition. He turns into this powerful human being that you wouldn’t mess with.
What was it like to play Gina and being on set?
It was great fun because I wouldn’t wear those clothes in real life. We had so many changes during the day that I had so many hairstyles and costumes and I loved all that. It’s like fancy dress.
I’m very easy and just do what’s asked from me and if I’m asked to do something I do it. I take notice of the director and I do the job, hopefully as quickly as I can then move onto the next scene. It was a very enjoyable job and I didn’t want it to end.
What did you think when you first read the script?
I thought it was brilliant. I really couldn’t put it down. It’s a very clever story and I just wanted to keep reading it. It really draws you in from the start.
I’m a fan of heist dramas anyway, and I’m a fan of really good scripts. This was a really good script. It’s not just a straightforward narrative, there are shifts in the timeline and as I was reading and the story was unfolding I didn’t have a clue what was going to happen next. You are still being surprised even towards the end, and there are still things being revealed. Hopefully the audience will get this as well. You are constantly fed a little bit at a time, seeing the story unfold and given bits of information.
Can you tell us about your character?
Marcus is a chancer, a daydreamer, living that champagne lifestyle on a lemonade wage. He’s generally a good guy, a happy go lucky guy and he has a lot of fun with Gina. She is the driving force behind Marcus, she keeps him on the straight and narrow and makes him think things through properly, taking charge.
How does Marcus find himself involved in this multi-million pound heist?
Marcus is the catalyst in the heist. Initially what starts it off, being the chancer he is, Marcus thinks he can steal £50,000 and get away with it. He puts together a plan and carries it out with Chris. When they splash a bit of money, that’s when they get caught by John.
They think there will be trouble now, but John turns around and says that if they’re going to risk it, why not risk it all?
Does Marcus see himself in charge then?
Marcus definitely still thinks he’s in charge and sees himself as the alpha male of the gang. He’s still calling the shots, but in reality he’s not. As usual he doesn’t think everything through. He thinks they’ll be in and out. All he sees is the money, but he’s not smart enough to think of the consequences or to think of a proper plan. And that’s where John comes in. Although you think he’s a bit of a pushover, he’s much smarter and starts putting a proper plan in place.
How does Gina get involved?
Initially Marcus thinks he can get it past Gina, but in their relationship she’s the brains of the outfit. When she discovers what’s going on he thinks he’s in trouble. But she loves him dearly and tells his this time he’s going to go by her, every single thing will be step by step, so they’re together. It’s a great relationship. She possibly does wear the trousers, although Marcus wouldn’t like to admit it.
Can you tell us a bit about the sort of person Chris is?
Chris is a very reserved character, very timid and quite shy. He has spent most of his life taking care of his mum who is an alcoholic. He’s given up on his own life when it comes to relationships and women. He’s fully dedicated to his job as a security guard, and caring for his mum. His father is in prison so although he still sees him, he hasn’t been there when Chris has needed him the most.
What is his relationship like with Marcus at work?
Chris doesn’t have many friends and although he gets on with Marcus, he would still only see him as an acquaintance. Really Marcus is the closest thing to a friend Chris has, until he meets Dita.
What is Chris’s motivation for getting involved with the heist, and how does Dita influence that?
His motivation for wanting the money is to make a change in his life. His job and everything else he does on a daily basis is mundane. It’s the same thing every day and it’s just about having a change in himself.
But then he gets a new girlfriend, Dita, and the chance to start a new life. For the first time things are looking good for him and suddenly his motivation and outlook change. He realise that his reasons for wanting the money and for doing what they’re doing are not the right reasons. He has to make a very brave decision and decide what to do for the best.
How was it filming the heist scenes?
The scenes I had to shoot were very intense. There were a few times when I would be on set and forget that we were doing a scene from the present, which was actually a cut back in time. We had to film a lot of scenes twice, sometimes from when we cut back, and then when it was happening in real time, because James (director) wanted different motivations. That was quite difficult at times.
When it comes to the order of scenes you had to be really dedicated and concentrate on the whole process. Sometimes it was difficult for me, because I have spent a lot of time in my career doing character breakdown, and James let me do all that which was great for me.
I hadn’t worked with James before but it was a great experience. As a director he’s very concerned about actors and how they feel about the scene. He spent a lot of time talking to the actors and taking them through the process.
Can you tell us about your character and the type of man he is?
John is working as a manager of a cash warehouse where large amounts of cash are coming in and being stored and counted. It’s his job to make sure that everything tallies up, that everything passes through as it should and that none goes missing.
He’s a very responsible man and lives quite a regimented existence where every day is very much like the other. John is quite a stickler for doing things as they should be done. He tries to be fair to everyone at work and tries to be nice to everyone, but he doesn’t get a lot of thanks for it. As the story progresses this starts to grate with him and he feels like he’s always picking up the pieces for other people at work. He even gets to a point where he’s replacing small amounts of money that are being stolen by some of his staff, because ultimately the responsibility lies with him.
His relationship with his wife is ok. There is no great animosity but there is a sense that maybe they’re both a little bit stuck and unsatisfied. They’re about to adopt a child which he’s nervous about as it’s a whole new world to him.
How does it all suddenly change for John?
In episode one he uncovers a plot by two of his team at work, Marcus (Warren Brown) and Chris (Ashley Walters), that they’re trying to steal a large amount of money from the warehouse. He’s cross about it and cross that they seem so disrespectful towards him.
He takes them into his office and while he is reprimanding them it feels like all of his frustration and the things he’s been thinking about, how his life feels slightly stuck and unsatisfied, comes to a head. It dawns on him there and then that rather than just trying to patch all this mess up and replace the sum they’ve already taken, maybe they should try and steal all the money.
This is utterly shocking to Marcus and Chris. And it’s shocking to John too that he’s even said it, but it sparks something in him. He thinks, “you know what, I think this is what I need in my life. I need to take a risk because life is frustrating. I’m dissatisfied and I’m not the man I want to be. I want to take a huge risk.”
So he floats this idea with Marcus and Chris, and that’s really where the three of them suddenly embark on this journey which has very different consequences for all of them.
We start with the heist itself and then we work our way backwards, from the planning and the build up to the day it is carried out, and all the things that could potentially go wrong. During the course of it all John goes through a fundamental change in his personality and we discover really what his motives are for doing it.
It’s clear that Marcus and Chris see themselves as the leaders and can’t imagine John taking control. What are the dynamics between the three men?
There’s a power struggle between the three of them about who’s going to be in charge of the heist. John very clearly from the off feels like it absolutely has to be him because he’s the manager, he’s the man who understands how the warehouse operates and how it can be done. John is also quite a pedantic character and a control freak, so that side of him starts to emerge.
But then Marcus also feels like he should be in charge. He has all sorts of connections and contacts he feels he can bring to the table. Ashley’s character is stuck somewhere in the middle, so it’s interesting to see the power struggle which John very much feels he must win. There’s no question that if they’re going to do this, John is going to call the shots, which creates a tension between the three of them.
We see a very different side to John when he starts talking about the logistics of the heist. What changes in him?
It all plays into John’s idea of suddenly taking risks in a way he never would have imagined before. First of all he’s decided to take this massive risk of stealing. This is a guy who never stolen anything in his life, and now he’s just decided to try and steal millions of pounds. Then there’s this added element of it being an armed robbery so now guns are involved and suddenly he’s even more terrified yet excited by the idea. It all becomes part of the excitement and it’s part of the new him.
How did you find switching between characters like that?
They both had interesting aspects because it was nice exploring the contrast between the two, but of course you really had to keep focused while you were shooting because you would be shifting in time in the story. We could be doing a scene from the present day and then we’d be going right back in time to the very beginning and how it all started, so you had to be really focused.
It was enjoyable playing the bumbling early John. There are some lightly comic touches as well, some lovely scenes which were really enjoyable.
And then it was really nice exploring that later side where he suddenly feels in control and is giving orders to gangs of men. It was exciting feeling that gear change where suddenly the alpha male has arrived and he’s calling the shots. So there was a lot to enjoy and think about.
What was it like filming the actual heist scenes in the vaults at the old Bank of England in Bristol?
It was amazing to be able to use that building and of course the huge vault door leading to where the money was. That’s a great reveal moment, and it just gave a fantastic sense of reality being able to use those corridors and loading bay knowing it was the real deal.
The design on the drama was fantastic. The counting house was brilliantly designed – it has a big open factory feel with John’s glass office looking out over the top of the counting room so it looks really good.
With the heist scenes we would film small segments at a time, so you could be filming one little segment one week which was being shot in the Bank of England vault and then a week later you might be doing the next segment in a corridor at a completely different location. It was interesting trying to film like that, because the energy in the early stage of the heist is quite frantic so you had to keep finding that energy for those moments which was quite a challenge.
Told entirely from their perspective, Inside Men is the story of three employees of a security depot who plan and execute a multi-million pound cash heist, written by Tony Basgallop and produced by BBC Drama Production for BBC One.
This new four-part drama serial stars Steven Mackintosh (Camelot, Luther) as John, manager of the cash counting house, a character too scared to confront the humdrum normality of his life. Joining him in the robbery is depot security guard Chris, played by Ashley Walters (Outcasts, Five Days), and forklift driver Marcus, played by Warren Brown (Luther, Single Father).
They are not seasoned criminals. Our protagonists are everyday, hard-working men who see an opportunity, weigh up the risks, and take a leap. Inside Men is a study of how men behave when they step out of their comfort zones, and focuses on what it takes to cross that moral line, what it means for our characters to risk their freedom, and the resulting fallout on their individual consciences.
Each have their own reason for doing the job – John realises that the only way to change his life is to start taking risks, and a risk this big would mean a massive change. Chris is lonely. The only significant woman in his life is his alcoholic mother, until he meets 17 year old Polish immigrant Dita. For him, the money could help make their lives better, but is he prepared to take the risk of losing everything?
Five years ago Marcus borrowed everything he could from friends and family to invest in a hairdressing salon, and lost the lot. By involving wife Gina in the heist, played by Kierston Wareing (The Shadow Line, The Runaway), the two of them enjoy the element of adventure while dreaming of the carefree life that lies ahead.
Tony Basgallop says: “Inside Men is the story of an old-school cash robbery but with the ‘geezer’ element removed. It’s a study in what it takes for a modern man to step up, assert himself, and have the courage to take something by force. How do you go from being a beta male to an alpha male, and what are the implications on your everyday life?”
Ben Stephenson says: “Tony Basgallop’s Inside Men centres around four very ordinary characters and a multi-million pound cash heist. The fine cast played by Steven, Warren, Ashley and Kierston reveal what motivates them in a thrilling BBC One story about power and greed in society today.”
BBC Executive Producer is Hilary Salmon (Silk, Five Days, Criminal Justice), and BBC producer is Colin Wratten (Waking The Dead, The Turn Of The Screw). Director is James Kent (Marchlands, The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne Lister).
The 4×60 minute drama filmed in Bristol is part of a raft of commissions by BBC One Controller Danny Cohen and drama commissioner Ben Stephenson which demonstrates a bigger commitment to original British drama than any other broadcaster in this country.
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