The Fall returns to BBC Two on Thursday, 29 September at 9pm and we’ve got an interview with its writer and creator, Allan Cubitt, plus a run-down of what you need to know! And we’ve also got five facts about series 1-3 that you may not realise…
1. All the episode titles are nabbed!
The ep titles for series one and two are all taken from Milton’s Paradise Lost, either as direct quotes or almost – so the title, ‘Beauty Hath Strange Powers’ is culled from the line, ‘Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power…’ for instance. Paradise Lost deals, of course, with the Fall of Man...
2. Allan Cubitt has stated he always knew how The Fall would end…
He also said, ‘there have been all sorts of discoveries along the way,’ and added, ‘The characters are very vivid to me and often seem to dictate the direction of the story, even the horrifying developments.’
3. Jamie Dornan originally auditioned for the role of a police officer…
…but the production team reckoned they had their main man, called him back and he ended up as the evil Spector. ‘It’s strange,’ Dornan reflected, ‘for such a sweet, kind man, Allan (Cubitt) has a lot of horrible stuff in his head!’
4. Many of the central characters in The Fall are named after guitars!
Paul Spector has a suitably well, spectral name but his surname also echoes Spector Guitars – the famous line probably best known for the NS Bass. Other characters named after guitars include troubled teenager, Katie Benedetto (Benedetto Guitars manufacture jazz guitars), Rose Stagg (Stagg guitars) and the brooding Assistant Chief Constable Jim Burns (Burns London). Gillian Anderson has the distinction of having her character named after two famous guitar brands.
Writer Allan Cubitt has a passion for guitars and explained, ‘As a writer sometimes it's incredibly important that you write about things that interest you and you just know when names are right.’ He revealed he gave Stella Gibson a double guitar moniker as she’s the central character!
5. Gillian Anderson on who is her favourite character: Dana Scully or Stella Gibson…
The actor who brought The Fall’s DSI to life has named Stella Gibson as her fave character to play. That’s quite an accolade, considering she’s played iconic characters in shows including The X Files, Great Expectations, War & Peace and Hannibal.
When asked what makes The Fall so unique, Gillian replied, ‘Ultimately the writing. Allan is very good at writing unpredictably. No matter how many conversations we might have prior to the series about what might or might not happen, what ends up on the page is so much more interesting, unlikely, unsettling and out of left field than pretty much anything I could have come up with.’
Find out more about the new series of The Fall or check out our interview with its writer, Allan Cubitt!
