Holliday Grainger, star of the BBC conspiracy thriller The Capture, has spoken about the show's timely exploration of artificial intelligence and its potential dangers. The third series, which opens at Heathrow Terminal 5 with a deepfake-assisted border breach, continues the show's tradition of blending fiction with emerging technology. Grainger compared the series to 'a longform Black Mirror', noting that each series explores technology 'just one step ahead of reality'.
The 37-year-old actor revealed that the show's advisers, including counter-terror and military consultants, have been surprisingly open about their work. 'The chill is the bluntness with which they say it,' she said. 'You think, if this is the stuff you're allowed to tell me, what are the real secrets?' Grainger added that the pace of technological progress and lack of regulation are 'sinister', particularly with AI-generated misinformation on social media platforms.
Grainger admitted that making the show has affected her worldview. 'It's completely reframed the way in which I read and watch the news,' she said. 'I'm more sceptical about global events in general.' She also expressed concern about AI's impact on the creative industries, noting that friends are losing jobs because they refuse to give away rights to their performances for AI manipulation. 'Will it put an end to human artistry?' she asked. 'Humans always fuck it up, don't we?'
In the new series, Grainger's character DCI Rachel Carey is now acting commander of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. 'It's tough at the top,' Grainger said. 'You can see the weight of all the heavy secrets they've just learned.' For the role, she underwent firearms training, as her character now carries a gun in the field. The series also features an invisible assassin and a torture scene involving cattle prods, scored by Blur's Dave Rowntree.
