HILTON: I was saying the dialogue all feels very naturalistic, was it all there on the page or was it something you stuck to completely or if you did your own...?

Coduri: The thing is, it’s a different language. I felt that the script was sort of Orton-esque HILTON: Joe Orton, the playwright?

CODURI: Yes you have to find a rhythm with that language, you have to use that language and hopefully if you tell the truth, you’ll know that the language will work for itself. Sounds really poncified but it was really Orton-esque and it wasn’t easy. If you’re working with your idols, if you like, you have to be on your toes and you have to make it natural but inside you're dying thinking oh my god am I doing it right?

DAY: Yeah with the slang they let me change it slightly and then they edited it out.

CODURI: Well we had no choice.

DAVIS: Anyway, thanks for coming!

DAY: Nah sometimes I try and change things but what was great was that it was really believable, the way we spoke which is really key.

CODURI: Absolutely.

DAY: I got sent a script the other day and it was just like, that person wouldn’t speak like this! Because I write my own stuff. We shot a lot of footage, we just worked on scenes over and over again until they’re really believable. It was really hard.

CODURI: I think it’s your job as an actor to honour the writers. That’s your primary job as an actor. So sometimes the pressure can be on with something that’s so unique and beautiful.

DAVIS: I’ll take that. I don’t even know who Orton is.
CODURI: Sorry was that awful of me?
DAVIS: No I’ll take it, sounds like a great guy! I'm gonna google it as soon as I get out. HILTON: The dialogue is really interesting. Do you make it up? Is Pinky real?
DAVIS: Yeah Pinky is real! It’s all real!

CODURI: It’s South London!

DAVIS: After the pilot went out, we had a conversation with Alex and Shane and the important thing when making a family sitcom is that it is something a family can sit and watch. You think of all those times you sat watching Only Fools and Horses or Blackadder with your family. Those are very special times when a family can come together and laugh, especially now. So one thing we changed was getting rid of the swearing. For example, if someone calls you a marrow, for me, that’s worse than call you a dickhead and also it requires some thought. Y’know if someone calls you a marrow you’re like ‘what does he mean by that?’ There’s a thought process there. He’s not just picked one out of his pocket that he uses for everyone. He specifically says I’m a marrow. There’s an episode where Laura calls me a Trevor and that hurts.

HILTON: What is a Trevor?

DAVIS: A Trevor is a bit of a sad guy - I hope there’s no Trevors out there, that’d be bloody awful wouldn’t it?

CODURI: It means soft touch, someone with a soft touch.

DAVIS: I was trying to think of a Trevor apart from Trevor Brooking. Trevor Macdonald maybe?

DAY: No one really knows where slang comes from. You could go too far and get into sort of Nick Love territory where it’s all slang and you don’t know what they’re talking about and you have to be careful. But there’s generations and slang changes doesn't it?

DAVIS: There was a lot of talk about slang on set.

HILTON: It feels like the atmosphere must have been fun. Apart from having to do scenes over and over again, was it fun?

CHECKLEY: It was hell. Yeah it was amazing and it spread into the crew. I think everyone who worked on this can safely say it was a bit of a special one. It always is, even when I did Action Team. It’s always a great ambiance on set and it’s playful and you get the best out of everyone and that starts at the top with this idiot. [Tom Davis]

DAVIS: We started having games of football at lunch in the summer and they got more and more competitive. It culminated in a massive final and it was between me and one of the prop boys. The whole of the cast and crew came to watch and James broke his ankle and I had a black eye. It was really quite a physical game of football. We won!

These guys and the crew were incredible. It was genuinely an amazing summer. It sounds a silly thing to say but everyone in the crew, they were all from the world so they knew it and they knew people like it. It was a joyous thing and I feel very blessed to have worked with all of them.

HILTON: How’s the ankle, James?

DE FROND: It’s just healed actually.

DAVIS: He was hoping for a call up for the world cup.

DE FROND: It was a great shoot and quite emotional actually. The last episode is quite emotional. I don’t want to do any spoilers but yeah.

HILTON: I was going to say, apart from episodic stories and focus on different characters, you also have a through line.

DE FROND: We wanted to sort of, weirdly modern in it being old-fashioned, but doing a story of the week so that it doesn't matter if you’ve seen the last episode. So they are very much story of the week but there’s subtle story arcs like father and son with Gary and Big Gary and the rivalry with Gary and Stuart (Romesh’s character) and the main subtle story line is Gary and Terry and there’s a nice little ending at the end. But yeah, so they’re subtle like Modern Family but the end couple of episodes are satisfying as regards to characters’ journeys rather than a comedy drama arc.

HILTON: And things get a bit emotional? Do you go there?

DAVIS: Yeah me and Laura both push ourselves. I was listening to Arkan [Orton] or whoever she was talking about. I think the thing is, you really want to believe them. That’s important. The silliness of it and you want to feel that they’re real. They’re not just mates, there’s a love there.

CHECKLEY: It’s like in Only Fools and Horses when Rodney gets married and Rodney and Del boy have that dance. That scene is so iconic and you care about them.

DAVIS: You’re Rodney.

CHECKLEY: Well I think I’m Del...Terry’s definitely Del, just saying. I think there’s a lot of heart in the last episode in particular.

HILTON: Yeah the scene at the end between you and your dad. CHECKLEY: Yeah, it’s subtle. It’s just peppered.

DAVIS: Those bits were always at the end of the day and me and Simon had to do those in one take. This emotional stuff and it’d be like ‘right you’ve got ten minutes’. It felt a bit like Murder in Successville again and Simon would come in and be like ‘right I’m doing it like this’ and he would smash it out of the park like he does.

DAY: Yeah I’d had about nine samosas by then.

DAVIS: They’re not here tonight but massive props to the catering. The catering was incredible.

DAY: Yeah he likes his food.
DAVIS: I think everyone can see that Simon.

DAY: People would arrive and be like ‘what’s the food like?’ and I’d go ‘it’s blinding’ and they’d straight away have like four breakfasts.

DAVIS: There was nearly a riot one day when there wasn’t enough samosas. Some people would come on even if they weren’t acting that day just for the food. The food was that good. I heard three restaurants in Essex closed down.

HILTON: Samosagate! Well, we’ve had a fire, we’ve had samosas, we’ve had a seagull. The influence of Arsenal fan TV, that must have impressed you Simon?

DAVIS: Oh, he's a massive spurs fan. Me and James are obsessed with that, we sit and watch it all day. I love it.

DAY: Is it just the one bloke that does that or have they got a couple?

HILTON: Before we get mired by talk of football, we’ve run out of time so let’s leave it there. Congratulations on a brilliant show and a believable show!