GRACE bosses have revealed why the entire ITV show was almost derailed and why they refused to mention coronavirus on screen.
The new ITV drama is an adaptation of two of author Peter James’ books about detective Roy Grace.
Actor John Simm takes on the titular role and the two feature length episodes were filmed in Brighton late last year.
The cast and crew had to adhere to strict health and safety regulations put in place because of Covid-19, and that had a serious impact on production.
Executive producer Paul Sandler revealed during a Q&A: “There were some enormous challenges, we were one of the first to go back into production in the Autumn.
“The brief from ITV was that this needed to be a real Covid-free world, so we didn’t want to see background artists with masks on, we didn’t want to see signs outside of shops or social distancing.
“So there was a great deal of thought went into how we could deliver this safely, because obviously that was the top priority for everyone.”
Thankfully, Paul and his fellow execs were pleased with the end result, adding: “It looks like a Covid-free world and thanks to everyone’s real perseverance and professionalism I think we managed to pull it off.
“But there were certainly some very stressful moments, particularly at the beginning but hopefully it is something we will never have to do again.
“It was more expensive, we had to go back to the financiers and rework the budget and find some additional funding because it’s a slower, more difficult process and you need more of everything in order to maintain social distancing.”
John, 50, was also delighted with the finished drama and admitted that while he initially thought the coronavirus pandemic should be addressed in the show, in the end he was glad it wasn’t.
He explained: “I think they [the producers] were absolutely bang on, no one wants to see anything about Covid.
“It was the most depressingly, boring year and we don’t want to see it on film, I don’t think.
“And it really ages it, it puts it in a specific year and that’s not what it’s about.”
Grace begins on ITV next month.
