Fears Alleviated? Harry's New Role in Four-Part Miniseries The Fear (late-2012)

Pardon us if you were awoken by the sounds of ear-shatteringly excited squeals early this morning.  Before you groan in annoyance and reach for the earplugs, allow us to explain.

We are happy to announce news of an upcoming Harry Lloyd project, reports of which have been slowly turning-up through the vapors of the internet.  Although we do not know very much at the moment, it’s enough to make us quite thrilled to hear about Harry’s newest opportunity.  And while we wait for more specifics to trickle out into the open, we can tell you the following (and from where such things were gleaned):

Drama Publicity Manager at C4 Alex Wells tweeted on July 25, 2012 the following: “The Fear script read through. Peter Mullan IN. THE. ROOM!” (Wells). The post was followed by an Instagram photo of The Fear script.

Subsequently, Drama On 4 retweeted the post, as well as contributed its own stream of telltale news.  “Peter Mullan plays Brighton crime boss turned entrepreneur, Richie Beckett in brand new drama The Fear...also starring.....” the first, suspenseful tweet read (Drama On 4).  It was followed swiftly with the continuation: “.....Harry Lloyd (Game of Thrones) Paul Nichols [sic] (The Passion), Anastasia Hille (Snow White and the Huntsman) AND” “.....AND Richard E. Grant (The Crimson Petal and the White). Excited? We are” (Drama On 4).

They can count Lloydalists among the excited, too.

A bit later, Drama On 4 explained that The Fear would be a “new four part drama starring Peter Mullan, Harry Lloyd, Paul Nicholls and Richard E. Grant [that] comes to @DramaOn4 later this year” (Drama On 4). Channel 4 is a British television station with a variety of programming; The Fear would fit within its “drama” offerings.

Earlier today, Yahoo UK reported the following:

Richard E Grant is to star in a new Channel 4 drama about the criminal underworld set in Brighton.

The cast of The Fear will be headed by Peter Mullan - who won acclaim in the movie Tyrannosaur - playing a crime boss-turned-entrepreneur.

The four-part series also sees former EastEnders actor Paul Nicholls and Harry Lloyd - who appeared in the acclaimed BBC adaptation of Great Expectations - playing his sons.

Peter portrays Richie Beckett whose past in the crime world is masked by a new-found respectability as he tries to revamp the city's West Pier. But his world is thrown into turmoil due to the impact of the Albanian mafia and aggressive early-onset dementia.

Richard plays a plastic surgeon who himself has a dark past which is intertwined with Beckett and his wife Jo (Anastasia Hille).

The hour-long episodes were written by Richard Cottan, who worked on BBC crime drama Wallander, and will be filmed around Brighton. (Press Association)

A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that Mullan would star in The Fear (Laing) but only now has the rest of the cast been named. What is more, the vague reference to “later this year” tweeted by Channel 4 workers can be worked out to mean November/December 2012, as originally slated (Laing).

From what was said of the roles of the two Becket sons prior to the casting announcement, we may get to see Lloyd in a more physically-active role than ever before—should things really get ruthless.  Initial reports, after all, revealed that in The Fear, Mullan’s “character Richie Becket's family firm, now run by his two sons, has to deal with a ruthless new rival gang of Albanians. In volatile circumstances, the erratic, extreme behaviour of Becket threatens to inflame the situation” (Laing).

The Beckett Boys

(left) To deal with new rival gangs and maintain the family business, Harry may have to lose the black-tie look (and the facial hair, here reflecting his role in The Duchess of Malfi from earlier this year). Image: Lloyd at the Olivier Stage Awards, April 15, 2012. Source: Georgia. Harry Lloyd Source. 25 April 2012. Web. 25 July 2012. <http://harry-lloyd.com/harry-at-the-olivier-broadway-awards-2012 >.

(center) Actor Peter Mullan will head the cast of The Fear, as well as head the Beckett family.  Harry Lloyd and Paul Nicholls are slated to play his sons. (Mullan is shown here at the London Premiere of Tyrannosaur, at The BFI Southbank, in October 2011). Image Source: Dave Hogan/Getty Images Europe.

(right) Thirty-three year-old actor Paul Nicholls will play Mullan’s son and brother to Harry Lloyd. Image Source: © The Sun/News Group Newspapers Limited. <http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/showbiz/tv/907486/Paul-I-was-speechless.html?print=yes>.

In the end, if there were any fears that we would end 2012 without seeing much more of Harry Lloyd, it would seem that these qualms are alleviated.  Although The Internet Movie Database hasn’t confirmed the presence of The Fear on 2012’s radar, nor the cast of the miniseries, Peter Mullan’s Wikipedia page (“Peter Mullan”) and various UK news sources (see “Works Cited & Consulted,” below) seem to be circulating the story fast enough to ensure us that The Fear will be a reality.  This “drama about a criminal underworld” may be just the thing to help get Harry out of the more recent crop of costume and period roles, as well as give him something a bit more earthy, gritty, and street-savvy into which to sink his acting chops.  Playing one of two sons to Mullan may mean that Harry is relegated to the backdrop on occasion or even folded into a general presence (albeit perhaps of edginess, brutality, and tenacity?) along with his brother, but we can hope that the four hours’ worth of miniseries will have plenty for us Lloydalists to sink our teeth into.

We will continue to keep you updated on developments regarding The Fear and, of course, any other Harry Lloyd-related news, as it turns up!  And if you have any leads, stories, or ideas you’d like to share, please email us at Lloydalists@gmail.com.  Also, for more up-to-the-minute news and fun, find us on Twitter: @Lloydalists.

Some Tweets started it all…above, some of the Twitter-sphere’s news (from Drama On 4) about The Fear from July 25, 2012.

Works Cited & Consulted

“Channel 4 Info.” Channel4.com. Web. 25 July 2012. <http://www.channel4.com/info/>.

Drama On 4 (@dramaon4) Twitter Feed. Web. 25 July 2012. <https://twitter.com/DramaOn4>.

Laing, Greg. “Channel 4 Reveals 2012/13 Drama Lineup: John Simm, Gabriel Byrne, More.” Digital Spy. DigitalSpy.co.uk. 13 July 2012. Web. 25 July 2012. <http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a393317/channel-4-reveals-201213-drama-lineup-john-simm-gabriel-byrne-more.html?utm_source=twt&utm_medium=snets&utm_campaign=twitter>.

“Peter Mullan.” Wikipedia.com. Web. 25 July 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mullen>.

Press Association. “Grant to Appear in C4 Crime Drama.” Yahoo UK. UK.News.Yahoo.com. Web. 25 July 2012. <http://uk.news.yahoo.com/grant-appear-c4-crime-drama-111458122.html>.

“Richard E. Grant Stars in New Channel 4 Brighton Crime Drama.” The Argus. TheArgus.co.uk. Web. 25 July 2012. <http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9836299.Richard_E_Grant_stars_in_new_Channel_4_Brighton_crime_drama/?ref=nt>.

Wells, Alex G. ‏(@AlexGWells) Twitter Feed. Web. 25 July 2012.  <https://twitter.com/AlexGWells>.

~Researched, Written, and Posted by K & C~