If you’ve seen the trailer for Netflix‘s upcoming fantasy YA series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, you might have guessed you’re in for a gory watch.
As it turns out, series writer Joe Barton was rather shocked himself when he realised just how gory his adaptation of Sally Green Half Bad‘s novel turned out to be.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Barton opens up about his initial reaction to some of the footage, which he had initially assumed his children would be able to watch before he saw a cut.
“I remember getting into the edit room on this and just suddenly being, like, ‘Oh s**t, it’s really violent!’ I did have, like, a mild panic… like, was the audience for it?”
He explains that adapting the show for TV meant there were fewer restrictions on how far they could take things, as opposed to having to meet age rating requirements for a film, especially one marketed at young adult audiences.
“I think sometimes, especially when you do things for film, you do have to water them down because the money is bigger, and there’s the distribution… it’s just a stricter thing,” Barton says. “But as soon as you’re in the TV world, I think you can push at those those edges.
“People sort of assume a YA thing has to be slightly sanitised, but I don’t think that’s true. I think an audience is there for a tougher story. Well, we’ll find out!”
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself cast echoed the sentiment, with lead Jay Lycurgo telling RadioTimes.com, “Teenagers these days see a lot of things. And as gory as it can be, it’s also really fun and romantic. There’s a beautiful love story in it.”
Emilien Vekemans, who plays Gabriel in the series, adds: “I think the anger in it is linked to the theme of the show. It’s about violence and anger and discovering all that, which a lot of young people experience in their lives.
“What I really like about the show is how it uses the blood, the explosions and everything in a really funny way, in a really playful way. That’s the nice thing about the show.”
Nadia Parkes, who plays Annalise, agrees: “Definitely. Joe’s writing is so natural and real that it never feels like he’s shoving something in your face because it comes from this world he’s created that feels so real.”
Additional reporting by Morgan Jeffery.
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself lands on Netflix on Friday 28th October – sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Buy the Half Bad novel from Amazon now. For more to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub.
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