Martin Freeman on The Responder’s future: ‘I love things being finite’

By Morgan Jeffery

Published: Sunday, 10 July 2022 at 12:00 am

Martin Freeman has revealed he didn’t originally anticipate his BBC One drama The Responder becoming a continuing series.

It was announced back in March that the acclaimed police drama would return for more episodes, but Freeman told RadioTimes.com that he originally approached the five-part first season as “a standalone thing”.

“I didn’t [see it as a returning series], not necessarily,” he said. “But as we were doing it, I could see more of it.

“I first read it as a standalone thing, with just five episodes, but I enjoying the doing of it very much and obviously it’s been well-received.

“If anything, I’m too much of a fan of things being finite, you know? If it was up to me, we probably wouldn’t finish a single episode of anything – just three scenes and then stop before it goes bad!”

Written by Tony Schumacher, The Responder followed Chris Carson (Freeman), an urgent response officer operating in Liverpool who ends up caught in a criminal web as he grapples with mental health struggles.

The series was acclaimed by critics, with RadioTimes.com branding it “a triumph” and “a sophisticated look at modern police work” – Freeman, though, insists he’s wary of being “led by reaction”.

“Don’t be flattered into doing another one where you really shouldn’t do it,” he said. “In my experience on a couple of shows, people think they want another one and then you give them another one and they go, ‘Oh, it was much better [before], you should have just stopped.’

“You can be damned if you do, damned if you don’t – but I think as long as you’ve got something to say, then doing another one of anything is fine.”