It appears that the team behind the new Swallows And Amazons are taking a few liberties with Arthur Ransome’s story, adding a mysterious new secret agent character. And they’ve hired someone well used to being enigmatic – Sherlock’s own Moriarty, Andrew Scott.
Ransome’s 1930 tome is set in the summer of 1929, and finds the Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) staying at a farm in the Lake District, during the school holidays. They sail a borrowed dinghy named Swallow and meet the Blackett children (Nancy and Peggy), who sail a dinghy named Amazon. The Walkers camp on an island in the lake while the Blacketts live in their house nearby. But there’s menace at large. A dark presence on the island - the Blacketts’ uncle James Turner, AKA 'Captain Flint’ - tests their skills of survival and the value of friendship, and prepare them for the dangers of the adult world.
The Walker and Blackett children will be played by Dane Hughes, Orla Hill, Teddie-Rose Malleson-Allen, Bobby McCulloch, Seren Hawkes and Hannah Jayne Thorp, with Gwendoline Christie, Jessica Hynes, Rafe Spall, Kelly Macdonald and Harry Enfield making up the adult ensemble.
Scott, meanwhile, will be a secret agent chasing down Spall’s Turner, playing a character modelled on Ransome’s time with MI6. “It’s a very different kettle of fish altogether. He’s a very charismatic character, and there is humour and warmth in the character,” he tells Variety. “It’s a great part; it’s very witty. It’s a very attractive character to play, so I’m delighted to be on board.”
According to Scott, the main draw for him was the story itself. “The chief reason I’m on board is because I love the storyline. That’s the thing that attracts me to any project – a great script and a really good story. “It’s about how adults can appear a certain way, but appearances, the way people behave and what we’ve been told about people are not necessarily true, and children have to learn that for themselves.” For more from Scott, head to Variety’s site.
Swallows And Amazons is filming now in the Lake District with director Philippa Lowthorpe calling the shots. Scott, who also appeared in Pride, The Stag and Jimmy’s Hall, will be seen in Spectre, which returns the Bond franchise to UK screens on October 23, Victor Frankenstein, due November 27, and Disney’s Alice Through The Looking Glass, which will be out on May 27 next year. And we haven’t seen the last of Moriarty on Sherlock – did you miss him?
from Empire News
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