Cast and writers on the return of Channel 4's The Curse

Channel 4’s comedy The Curse is to return, set 18 months after the last series with   several of the gold bullion thieves now living on the Costa Del Crime, and Mick (Tom Davis) languishing in prison. Here the cast, who also co-wrote the show, tell us what to expect from the new episodes.

Allan 'Seapa' Mustafa

Where do we find Albert at the start of this series?

Albert has always been one of those people who’s happy to be led and trodden on a bit within his relationship. Series one took him out of his little world, that adrenaline and excitement giving him a bit of confidence as well as a new lease of life.

He feels like a boss now with his new hotel in this new environment and people working underneath him, but very quickly you realise that he is just lonely. He hasn't got his friends to take the piss out of him, which he sort of enjoyed, and because [wife] Tash has fully gone for it to lead the business side, Albert feels like he hasn't got much to do. He's got no one to hang out with, which gives him the thirst for a little bit more adrenaline,

Do they think they've got away with the robbery now?

At the beginning, maybe. That's why Albert can have those anxieties about his ego, or he’d have real anxiety instead! You'd see it at a surface level if he was thinking about it.

Have they blended in on the Costa Del Crime?

Yeah, especially with the influx of British expats and criminals because of the extradition laws. They’ve blended in pretty well and they don't really stick out.

He hasn’t had a shave, though…

We did speak about that. It’s not great for me personally, because I've got to walk around looking like a paedophile for six or seven weeks of filming.

Filming in Spain actually worked out all right though, I blended in with the big hair and moustache and it made me start dressing differently. Wearing that with a tracksuit makes you look like you own a bike shop in Shoreditch. With a Cuban shirt, it works.

How was the filming in Gran Canaria?

It's such an amazing island. I thought it was going to be fry-ups on the beach everywhere, and parts of it are like that, but there's so much natural beauty there.

Parts of it look like Colombia, parts of it look like the desert, the nature is incredible and diverse. The architecture is still stuck in the 1970s and 1980s, which was perfect for us. And being able to go swimming in the sea before you're shooting didn’t feel like work.

Did you let your hair down?

Yeah, we had a few moments. Most people stayed for the duration, so we had good bonding with all the other actors – especially Michael Smiley (playing Ronnie Gatlin), who was only in for a day or two on series one. This time it was amazing to hear his stories and learn from him.

Why are people so fascinated by heist stories?

It's all to do with social politics. The 1970s and 1980s were big for bank robbers, then when the [CCTV] cameras started coming in, people would get into the drugs trade instead.

These weren’t high-level technical criminals, they were London geezers that would run into places with brute force. It’s similar to why we like gangster films or Westerns – it's something that we would never have the balls to do.

It also feels like more of a victimless crime in that you're robbing big corporations, so there's the anti-establishment thing as well. You can root for them a bit.

What would you what would you do with all that money?

I would feed the world. No, I’d buy everyone I know a place, get my mum a bigger place… People say ‘feed the world’, but how do you go about it

Have you had any feedback from any coppers or genuine criminals?

That’s what we were worried about! Some of us don’t have that many degrees of separation from that sort of world, so through the grapevine I’ve heard a few things but, because it's a comedy and none of it's based on specific characters, it’s all good.

So will Albert be rocking a mullet?

Yeah, maybe long hair, ponytail, hoop earrings. I wonder if we ever shave the ’tache? It would be a proper statement to keep that in the 1990s.

Interview with Tom Davis

Who plays Big Mick Neville

Why are heist stories so compelling?

It's cops and robbers, good and bad, isn't it? Although that feels more sketchy than ever in 2023.

In our case, there's something about normal working people getting away with something and living this criminal lifestyle. It’s why we’re obsessed with The Sopranos or The Wire.

I spent a long time working in a normal job, getting up at 6am and finishing at 5pm, living in the parameters of what's socially acceptable. When you see people living outside of that, there's something intriguing about that.

Is there a different tone this year?

It was about keeping that same tone but being a bit more ambitious, so this feels a bit more gritty and grown up. The lines are more blurred between comedy and drama and the villains feel meaner and more terrifying.

If the first series was Albert’s (Allan Mustafa) series, his stresses and struggles over what's right and wrong, this series is Tash’s, her trajectory after being behind this whole thing. Emer Kenny is brilliant this year.

Mick is a big, imposing guy, but we first find him in prison and you fear for him there.

Yeah, Mick almost lives in a fantasy world where he thinks he's this big shot in prison, but he's gettable – he's not safe in prison. But you fear for all of them. You want to think that, at any time, any of these guys can go.

Did you enjoy getting back into Mick’s shoes?

Yeah, he’s probably my favourite character I’ve ever played. It feels like me going back to what I love the most, creating a character that feels believable but a bit odd. Everyone was worried about putting a character like that front and centre in a show like this in case he was too big for it. But people like that do exist.

Did you miss his tracksuit?

No, I was so glad to get rid of that although it would have been nice to have shorts that went anywhere below the groin – I've got the best array of hotpants and Speedos imaginable.

The stuff with Mick and Phil (Hugo Chegwin) is just great – my favourite days are the ones where I get to mess around Hugo, working on that double act. There's quite a lot of love between them really.

Mick does eventually join the others to Spain. Presumably that was always the intention?

Yeah, with series one being out in the freezing cold, I thought it could be quite interesting to keep Mick in prison for most of this series. I remembered having to shoot Spain in Bournemouth for King Gary, but as soon as they said they were shooting in Gran Canaria, Mick was busted out!

Gran Canaria is incredible. You can shoot the Colombian rainforest one day, an English prison break the next. You can get everywhere within about half an hour. The crew did an incredible job to put it all together and [director] James De Frond had a clear vision for the show.

Kiell Smith-Bynoe has joined the cast this year…

Yeah, Kiell was always on our list, but otherwise we wanted to cast dramatic rather than comic actors. So you’ve got straight drama guys like Peter Ferdinando and Michael Smiley. That really adds to the piece, because we’re a bunch of working-class guys making this big show, none of us have been trained and that camaraderie really tells on and off screen.

Allan is phenomenal at the dramatic and emotional stuff this year, a bit like a fighter who has to step up and give the best account of himself he possibly can.

Did you have time to relax?

Yeah, I got my handicap down by two or three! I took my wife and baby daughter out there and it was genuinely one of the most incredible times for us as a family – I took the chance to make a few memories.

It’s different from anything else I've done because I'm used to being front and centre, in every scene. With this, you do get a bit of time to step away from it. it felt like the baton of being Mr Good Times was being passed on. I’m an old man now, which is fine with me – I can’t be doing nightclubs any more.

What was the biggest challenge of the series?

Financially it's a challenge, because it's getting tougher to make a series as ambitious as this. We have a joke that we've called it The Curse and it often has proved to be that, because it felt like there was an obstacle every day.

Gran Canaria looks incredible, but they’re not up to British levels of film and TV production, where people can multitask. Sometimes you'd be like: we need to get this done really quickly. And someone would say: ‘Oh, we've got [to get] a specialist for this tiny thing’. So you end up doing it yourself.

But it's an amazing thing to get five-star reviews for a show that you poured your heart and soul into. We wanted to step up a level and Channel 4 backed us to do that.

Can you pick out a highlight?

The people you get to work with. Watching Emer Kenny, six months pregnant during filming, knowing what that character was going to have to go through… We had to rewrite the series for it, because you have the vulnerability but also the strength that a woman shows through pregnancy – it’s like nothing that you'll ever see. Emer was in nearly every day. She's hilarious and great with the dramatic beats – she should be winning every award out there.

Interview with Emer Kenny

Who plays Natasha Fantoni

Congratulations on the birth of your son! Did you decide to have a baby when you read that Tash was pregnant?

Yeah, me and Allan (Mustafa, playing Albert) really committed to our roles and have had a baby together…

No, I was writing on the show this season, so I knew the whole time we were plotting it in the writer’s room that I was pregnant, but I was so nervous to tell them.

I called them up one by one, which they all found really weird, because I'd never called them like that before. I asked if we could write it in and they were really excited. James [De Frond, director] was saying it could be really iconic, because you rarely get a woman filming while pregnant, especially a lead character who's quite strong and interesting. I felt so lucky to able to do that.

It adds extra layers to Tash, doesn’t it?

Yeah, the stakes are so high, because if she’s in a dangerous situation then it feels really dramatic. There are moments later in the series where she's pointing a gun at someone, and that's even more badass when you've got this big bump. It did add something to her journey.

I remember reading scenes with Tash as not pregnant and she comes across as quite unlikable and ruthless. When you realise she’s got this new life she needs to protect, you understand why she's quite cold-hearted and brutal in her decision-making.

Was filming a very different experience this time?

Yeah, I drank and partied a lot during the first series! But this time, not so much. The boys are the boys, so it was still extremely funny and chaotic and raucous. I just didn't get to surf on my days off.

Is there a different tone this year?

Going from the early 1980s East End, where everything's a little bit grubby and grimy, to 1986 Costa del Crime, all the colours have been ramped up, the music's been ramped up, the clothes are more glamorous.

We've all got more money, so Tash in particular gets to live her dream and look a little bit more like Joan Collins with colourful patterns, gold jewellery, power shoulders and a little bit of leopard print. It's classy, but still a bit blinged out.

Setting it out there exacerbates that fish-out-of-water feeling, but now they're even more out of their depth because the criminals are worse and the corruption is more far-reaching. Even Tash can't handle it, and she’s very smart.

Have they integrated pretty well on the Costa?

They think they have: Tash thinks she can speak really good Spanish and over-pronounces everything. But they are quite settled, they've got the dream hotel, Albert's cooking in a nice restaurant. Even so, I think both of them are also really lonely.

Do they think they've got away with it?

Tash hopes they have, but there’s a way to go. If she can build this waterpark – which is such a funny dream – she thinks that will solidify her position, she can launder money through it and she'll be fine. Albert’s a little bit downtrodden and doesn't have his friends out there. Tash has taken a lot of power from him, so he’s a ticking time bomb where Tash is going to be left with the pieces.

Has Tash learned from her experiences in the first series?

She's learned from the fact that the boys did the crime without her. She was the mastermind but she wasn't involved, so she’s realised that she has to be in control or things go wrong. If they listened to her, they’d probably be OK. So sshe's getting deeper into a criminal underworld and becoming more ruthless, rather than keeping her head down.

The British heist never loses appeal, does it?

No, heists are really satisfying to watch because it’s almost a victimless crime – you're always robbing an institution or a bank or a casino. And a heist requires some cunning, so it's satisfying to watch a group of ne’er-do-wells get away with something, even though our idiots are really not cunning. They’re sweet and likeable.

What was the most challenging aspect of making this series?

Having more dramatic scenes. The boys are chaos, so the harder you try to act well, the funnier they find it. If I'm trying to cry in front of Allan, it’s a red rag to a bull.

There’s a scene where Tash is crawling through the desert, covered in blood and crying, and she does this emotional speech to a dying man, which I loved because it felt really challenging. Also, when anything weird you've written makes it into the cut it is such a win, and so is making any of them corpse. Honestly, making this show is a total dream.

How was the writers’ room experience?

Amazing. To be cracking jokes and thinking of the stupidest things with them over Zoom is such a joy. I love getting inside their characters and giving them stuff to say.

Mick gives a speech about his memoirs and it's one of the weirdest and silliest things I've ever written, but to see Tom Davis do that was so satisfying. I feel very grateful to be in the mix with them.

Could Tash shine in the 1990s?

Hopefully! The character has grown in this series so it would be nice to continue that. It's only going to get bigger and bolder now they're in the kind of trouble that they're in. I hope we get to tell the story right to the end.

Interview with Steve Stamp

Who plays Sidney Wilson

How much did you know about the second series while you were making the first?

There was definitely an eye on getting to Spain, but we hadn't really mapped it out too much. It was more about seeing what happens naturally. For example, casting Michael Smiley as Ronnie Gatlin, you’re thinking: what can we do with this? That stuff is rich territory as a writer.

How were you looking to move things on this time?

We had a slightly different set of visual references, with the nods to Scarface and even Beverly Hills Cop. This felt more high-flying and action-oriented.

You wouldn’t call Sidney a high flyer.

No, there's a Catch-22 where they want to enjoy their money while not drawing too much attention to themselves. Sid is in this new role of a reggae beach-bar owner called Andrew. He really gets into having a backstory for the character, so while Tash and Albert are building their empire, Sid’s just quietly trying to keep away from trouble.

Andrew is more than a new name, it’s a new persona.

Yeah, he's fully committed with a rat-tail and little denim shorts, striding about on the beach, enjoying the sights and sounds. He's in his element and can't believe his luck, but it’s all tied up with Ronnie Gatlin and the criminal world, so he has things he needs to be watching out for.

How did you enjoy working with Michael Smiley, below?

He’s very good at disarming people, having that threatening energy where you're not sure if he's joking. We played into that, because Ronnie was this flash guy that can make things happen in the first series. We wanted to see a darker side this time.

I didn't really get to spend a lot of time with him originally, so this shoot was an opportunity to hang out and get to know the thoughtful, sweet and philosophical side of the man. Having him on set being terrifying and then getting tapas with him afterwards was lovely.

Is Sid enjoying Costa life?

He's keeping his head down in his little bubble. He is really happy with his pedalos and the mamacitas to admire on the beach, but there's always this lingering issue of everyone else. He also can't help himself when it comes to the gold, it brings out his greedy little Gollum side.

Did you enjoy your downtime in Spain?

Yeah, the setup was incredible. We had nice weather and a lot of people were staying in or around the same area, so we could all bump into each other and have drinks and dinner. It created a nice camaraderie. It’s so relaxing to have a swim before a shoot, almost like being on holiday together.

Have you watched The Gold, the BBC drama also based on the Brink’s-Mat robbery?

I haven't finished it, but it's nicely directed - very stylish. It was interesting to see a more truthful telling of what happened, the logistics of it all.

One of the hardest things about telling the story is that it's so fiddly: moving the money around is hard to show in an engaging way. We've always had the advantage of not having to worry too much about getting it spot on, we just mess around with the bigger ideas and the more we've done, the more we’ve moved away from the true story.

Why do heist stories appeal?

There’s an underdog thing, especially in the Thatcher era of people taking stuff because they weren't being dealt a good hand by society – there’s a sense of the government not doing enough for the working classes now as well.

In this series, the Spanish police don't really like the British and didn't really want to help the British police. The threat to the gang comes from being exposed by the press or from them almost exposing themselves, rather than from the police being this organised force.

What was the biggest challenge for this series?

Probably the money side of things on the shoot, although selfishly, I was just really enjoying the whole process. I had a great time writing it and the shoot is probably my favourite I've done. When everyone's relaxed and getting on, it creates environments where you can bounce off of each other and find the comic chemistry.

Could Sid find his mojo in the 90s?

Yeah, I reckon. He's tried to keep his head down and I think he’s realising that’s a bit pointless and he might as well just go for it.

• The Curse is on Thursday April 27 at 10pm on Channel 4. The series will also be available on All 4

Published: 18 Apr 2023