BFI Hosts Q&A with BBC One’s “Strike” Cast and Crew

by · August 16, 2017

Around 400 people joined the BFI for the preview screening of the first episode of Strike, the new Cormoran Strike adaptation for BBC One. After the episode, there was a 45-minute Q&A with actors Tom Burke (Cormoran Strike) and Holliday Grainger (Robin Ellacot), as well as director Michael Keillor, executive producer Ruth Kenley-Letts, and writer Ben Richards.

The Q&A focused mostly on the process of adapting the novels into the television series. Richards discussed the difficulty of turning a complicated book into a show and talked with Keillor about what is the most important part of the adaptation.

Grainger answered a question about her portrayal of Robin, talking about how she brought a large part of herself to the character. She mentioned how everyone she’s spoken to about the character finds themselves in her and how she hopes her portrayal fits what most people feel about Robin.

Burke was asked about how he approached playing a disabled character. He mentioned doing lots of research with his double, a man who has nearly the same condition as Strike, and reaching out to someone with the same injury from Afghanistan to see how he handles things.

Both Richards and Kenley-Letts mentioned how great it is to work with J.K. Rowling on the scripts. They called her a “hands-on” executive producer and said she read draft after draft of the scripts and has seen early cuts of the shows. Richards praised J.K. Rowling for giving creative freedom to the team, only stepping in with advice or suggestions when she felt it was needed.

As for the future of the show, the team said if the show continues, they will definitely hold back from doing another series until the next novel is out. Both Grainger and Burke mentioned that J.K. Rowling hadn’t given them any information about the future of their characters (although Grainger did make a plea for J.K. Rowling’s agent, Neil Blair, who was seated in the first few rows of the auditorium, to get her an advanced copy of the next novel).

Be sure to check out our spoiler-free review of the first episode of Strike, The Cuckoo’s Calling.

The first episode airs later this month on BBC One in the UK and later on HBO in the US.