Interview with Greg Davies

Where do we see Ken in the new series?
He thinks he’s about to get rid of his son, which he is delighted about; his daughter is about to get a job, plus there are no insane Americans in his life. Saying that, there is quite a nice moment this series when you realise that he doesn’t actually hate his son. 

What is it about Ken that the audience relates to?
There’s a lot of talk about having adventures in life, but really we all want a degree of stability. There’s not much of an adventurer in Ken. He would think differently but there’s isn’t; he’s a home bod who likes things just so. He likes patterns of behaviour, like having a curry on a certain night. He’s constantly fighting a tide of chaos.

Can you identify with Ken?
I wish I was more like him in a way, because I haven’t got any order in my life - I still live in chaos like a teenager. I can also identify with him in that I crave some structure, which he’s very good at it. But we’re fighting opposite battles: he’s trying to fight off anarchy and I’m trying to bring in order.

What’s it like with Taylor?
He's a delight. To come from the place he comes from, done the things he’s done so early in his career, for him to be level-headed, so nice and down to earth and a decent chap - he’s great. We’re from very different generations and very different body types and we're friends, which shows that you can bridge those gaps.

Are there any moments on set that you’ve enjoyed or have stood out?
Enjoyed is a tricky word. We blew up some plastic ducks up in the dead of night using industrial strength explosives - I expected it to be a pop, but it was a bang that woke up houses for miles around, that genuinely frightened me. I did enjoy singing a Billy Bragg song in front of a load of sweaty students. I don’t think there are enough students who are aware of the work of Billy.

Do you have any Ken-like pranks from university?
I don’t remembered any structured jokes, I don’t know if we were so sophisticated to do pranks or jokes on each other, it was just an awful orgy of alcohol. I once went to a fancy dress party with friends I lived with and we all dressed up as Satan. We painted ourselves red from head to toe in kiddy craft paint but we couldn’t get our horns to stick, so we superglued them to our heads. I had horns stuck to my head for four days and couldn’t go out! I loved university - I learnt nothing but they were great times.