Daniel Mays, Joel Fry and Amit Shah have discussed filming Channel 5's returning Play for Today in the Scottish Highlands, where they endured relentless rain and a freezing loch shoot.
The programme, which Channel 5 revived last year, features six standalone dramas. Play for Today originally debuted on the BBC during the 1970s and champions new talent on both sides of the camera, providing opportunities for first-time writers, directors, and production teams, while helping establish routes into the industry for those traditionally underrepresented in television.
Wild survival dramedy set in the Highlands
Back on Channel 5 on Friday, September 25, the opening instalment of the new run is titled Wild and has been billed as a survival dramedy set in the beautiful but unforgiving Scottish Highlands. It features Line of Duty's Daniel Mays, Game of Thrones star Joel Fry, and Happy Valley's Amit Shah, reports the Daily Record.
The synopsis for Wild states: "Lou (Mays), Dev (Shah), and Alistair (Fry), three old friends clinging to their annual wild camping tradition, begin with banter, nostalgia, and amateur vlogging, but soon unravel into a battle of egos, secrets, and survival when they get lost, food runs short, and friendships fracture."
"At once funny, poignant, and unsettling, Wild explores the line between adventure and recklessness, and how toxic masculinity has become a huge part of the epidemic decline in men's mental health."
Rain and cold-water scenes
Discussing the Highland filming experience, Daniel remarked: "The prospect of going up to Scotland for a week was really enticing – we were filming around Loch Lomond and the landscape up there is absolutely epic. It doesn't matter which direction you point the camera in, you always get an incredible vista, and that was a huge part of my reason for doing the job."
"But my God, it didn't stop raining! Day one, it rained for the entire day, and I remember looking out of the hotel window thinking I'd never seen rain like it... but also realising I was about to go out and film in it! But it was great, the location is a huge part of this drama, it's like another character in the piece, and the cinematography adds an epic element to this very personal story of friendship."
He continued: "There's a scene where we go into the loch itself in our very becoming wetsuits, and I loved it, but I desperately wanted to do it in just our boxer shorts. They said it was too cold, but the day we filmed it there were three old ladies swimming there without wetsuits!"
Reflecting on the freezing loch shoot, Amit explained: "We were all very fearful about it – we knew it was going to be tough because none of us do any cold plunges or outdoor swimming and our bodies are not acclimatised to things like that. But once we got in there it was actually quite energising and invigorating rather than frightening, so I can see why people do it."
Meanwhile, Joel reflected on shooting in inclement conditions: "Filming outside can always be a bit of a problem, because you're at the mercy of whatever's going on with the weather, so we did spend a lot of time turning up to a wet spot and then trying to get through filming before it rained too much!"
"But Scotland is so beautiful up in the Highlands, you forget that kind of landscape is even possible, it's so different. And we were super lucky that we managed to get through filming in the bad weather, it could have been a complete write off."
Play for Today: Wild airs on Friday, September 25 at 9pm on Channel 5.
