{"id":17733,"date":"2022-06-30T14:49:22","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T12:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1671506"},"modified":"2022-06-30T15:15:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T13:15:08","slug":"adrian-lester-talks-the-undeclared-war","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/adrian-lester-talks-the-undeclared-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Adrian Lester talks The Undeclared War"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Katie Wright\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 30 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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This interview was originally published in Radio Times magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Having played Henry V, it was only a matter of time before Adrian Lester brought his statesmanlike demeanour to a contemporary leader. And so, in Peter Kosminsky\u2019s new drama The Undeclared War<\/a>, a six-part thriller set in 2024 that depicts a cyber attack on the UK from Russia, Lester is cast as the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

His character has ousted Boris Johnson in a coup to take control of the Conservative Party and country, but comes from an equally privileged background. \u201cEvery part of that situation is a real tangible thing that we have around us today,\u201d says Lester. But a black PM? \u201cA black PM in Britain\u2019s future will happen. It\u2019s just a case of when,\u201d the 53-year-old actor adds. \u201cIn our multicultural society, it is inevitable that there will be a prime minister of colour at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researching a modern-day politician, of whatever rank or party, was easy, says Lester. He simply watched Question Time, listened to the Today programme and noted how politicians seem to answer questions\u2026 but never actually do. \u201cI started pulling up interviews, and watched politicians speak the truth without saying anything that could be pulled out and wrapped around a different argument and fired back at them. That\u2019s how politicians speak. They never use specifics, because any specifics mean three days later your answer can be fired back at you. So, politicians speak with an absence of facts and use opaque responses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Episode one of the Channel 4 drama hinges on the global hacking of the internet and, thanks to the work of an intern at GCHQ, the discovery of malware at the heart of the British communications systems. Is Lester familiar with hacking, coding and general computerisation?<\/p>\n

\u201cAt heart, I\u2019m analogue,\u201d he confesses. \u201cI\u2019m one of those people who has to buy something if they walk past a stationery shop. If I was in the psychiatrist\u2019s chair they would note that I still have to make marks with a pen on a piece of paper. And yes, I still have my vinyl collection, although I do value the era of MiniDiscs. I talked about MiniDiscs to my children the other day and they said, \u2018What?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

We are currently in something of a golden age of TV drama, and Lester is at the pinnacle of that world, having recently featured in ITV\u2019s Trigger Point<\/a> and Mike Bartlett\u2019s BBC drama Life. He\u2019s also a hit on stage, having just been nominated for a best actor Tony for his Broadway debut in The Lehman Trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to play different people all the time,\u201d says Lester, whose TV credits also include several series as professional fraudster Mickey Stone in BBC1 hit Hustle. \u201cHustle worked really well for me because every week, my character was a different character. I\u2019m not the kind of actor who\u2019s going to fit well with a long-running series unless that series offers me the chance to be in new and different situations every week. And I like what I do on stage, where you research a character, work hard on it and then walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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