BBC surveillance drama The Capture enjoys stretching the bounds of credulity, but its creator and writer Ben Chanan has said that its intricately woven plot is rooted in real-world events and possibilities.
Chatting to RadioTimes.com and other press ahead of season 2’s release, he said: “I think it’s possible. I think everything that happens in The Capture is possible. Clearly, it’s far-fetched, like any good story is, but it’s not sci fi.
“The line we try to tow in the show is everything that happens is technically possible.”
In the first episode, MP and security minister Isaac Turner (Paapa Essiedu) falls victim to deepfake manipulation. A fabricated version of the politician appears on Newsnight to announce a drastic U-turn on his stance on Chinese AI technology while the real Isaac Turner watches on from afar, horrified and powerless.
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/08/The-Capture-season-2-05b1be2.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413" "\"\"")
Essiedu echoed Chanan’s statement and went on to say that that was part of the draw for him: “It doesn’t feel too far away from what we experience on a day-to-day. I don’t think that events in the show are too fictional or too far away from being true.
“I really do enjoy projects that feel like they comment directly on, at least in a very close way to what we go through on a day-to-day basis.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the series, executive producer Rosie Alison teased: “It really builds and goes somewhere. Very often you get dramas which are sort of a Ponzi scheme of narrative threads which all unravel, but Ben has really figured out something which builds and builds to a meaningful denouement, and has something proper to say about our world.
“He drops a little pebble and it ripples outwards and outwards and the circle widens and widens to this bigger world of international politics, international relations, but never losing the human story at the heart of it.”
Catch The Capture episode 2 on Monday 29th August at 9pm on BBC One. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only £1. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.