In The Flesh - Interview with Dominic Mitchell

What was it like returning to the world of In The Flesh?

It felt great, it was fantastic to visit that world, visit Roarton again, visit the characters, introduce new characters, expand the world a bit and expand the mythology, yeah it was brilliant.

Where does series two pick up?

It’s about nine months after the events of series one and Roarton, because it was so shocking the events that happened, there’s been a fragile peace between the living and the undead but that’s not the case in the outside world, things become more combative with the living and the undead. There’s a new political party, called Victus, it’s sort of a backlash to the government sending the PDS sufferers back.

I always thought because the government introduced this policy where the PDS sufferers go back into society that there would be a backlash to that, especially because in Roarton it’s a microcosm of Britain and I think that a lot of things that happened in Roarton, happened everywhere else and people were like, hang on a minute I don’t want an undead person living next to me.

In the reality of the situation, a one issue political party would spring up and say we’re for the living, don’t trust the undead. The whole mantra of Victus is not that they say they are anti-PDS, but rather they are pro-living. Their mantra is that these PDS sufferers are one missed dose away from tearing your head apart and they’ve got a point!

Can you tell us about Simon, one of the new characters you have introduced this series?

Simon is the twelfth disciple of the Undead Prophet, he’s connected to the ULA (Undead Liberation Army) who are an extremist group they consider themselves freedom fighters. They say that no one is protecting PDS sufferers, no one is fighting for their rights, so we’re the ones who have to fight for them. He’s a very interesting character, he’s enigmatic, he’s mysterious, he’s damaged I would say.

Is there scope for a third series?

With a series you want to close some doors, you want to end some stories because it’s unfair to cheat the audience I think, but we have left windows open for more stories. For me it’s such an interesting universe, we answer some questions but we leave some mysteries open, so there could definitely be more to explore I’d say.

Interview by Ben Murray. Produced by Dualtagh Herr.