The gothic set for Penny Dreadful might look incredible, but Billie Piper reveals her sons weren’t overly impressed when they visited her during production.
“I thought it would be a really scary experience, but my kids couldn’t be less interested in being on set,” says the 33-year-old mum of seven-year-old Winston and four-year-old Eugene.
“It’s the last thing they want to do, I’ve learnt that. There was semi-interest in the Doctor Who sets when I was doing the 50th anniversary special, because it’s a more colourful experience and less intense. They could actually watch the filming if they wanted to.”
Sky Atlantic’s acclaimed supernatural drama Penny Dreadful – starring Piper, Eva Green, Harry Treadaway, Josh Hartnett and Timothy Dalton – has been a huge hit since it first aired in 2014.
Now back for a third series – boasting torrents of blood, ghosts, demons, witches and vampires and littered with characters from Victorian literature, like Frankenstein and Dorian Gray – it’s never shied from violence and brutality. Dalton, who plays explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, has taken umbrage at people describing it as horror, however.
“I love Tim,” Piper says of her co-star, laughing. “I think he’s right in a sense, because it’s very easy to slap a label on it and go, ‘it’s a horror’. It’s a really thoughtful piece of writing and if it’s about anything, it’s about mortality and lost souls, just a crooked bunch of characters in Victorian London. And I love it most when it’s that. The scary stuff I’m not really bothered by.”
Piper was introduced in the series as prostitute Brona Croft, an Irish immigrant who embarked on a passionate affair with American gunslinger Ethan (Hartnett). She was battling consumption (aka TB) when Frankenstein (Treadaway) smothered her and used her body to create a mate for his creature Caliban (Rory Kinnear).
By the time series two ended, Ethan was being deported, Caliban had been rejected, and Frankenstein was descending into madness after falling for his latest creation, only for Lily to reveal her true, dark intentions to Gray (Reeve Carney).
“They’ve found soulmates in each other and they’re sort of ‘friends with benefits’,” explains Piper of Lily’s relationship with Gray. “They’re out recruiting fallen women to build an army, to justify some of the savagery that’s happened.” She doesn’t want to give away too much, but hints: “There’s a big feminist link running through it.”
The immortal couple will embark on more viciousness, as evidenced by their entrance in series three.
“I wish I’d warmed-up,” jokes Piper, recalling a fight sequence that breaks out in a torture chamber. “When you go to drama school, you do a lot of that sort of work and then you never get to use it, so it was nice to revisit some of those old stage-fighting moves. It’s brutal to watch, but fun to do.”
Despite the show’s reputation, she insists creator and writer John Logan, who also acts as executive producer alongside Sam Mendes, has never been interested in gratuitous violence.
“The great thing about the show is there’s a lot of horror, and then there’s some real tenderness and understanding. It’s really thoughtfully written.”
She admits there’s “shock factor” but says it’s always justified within the storylines. “Not that it makes it more palatable, but there’s reason,” Swindon-born Piper adds. “It’s not just because we’re out to get loads of viewers.”
The pop star-turned-actress, who’s also known for her roles in Secret Diary of a Call Girl and A Passionate Woman, earned two National Television Awards for her portrayal of Rose in Doctor Who, and received critical acclaim for her performance in The Effect at London’s National Theatre. She was “a massive horror head” in her “babysitting years”.
“But since having kids, your desire to sit down with something like that gets less and less,” adds Piper, who recently split from her husband of eight years, Laurence Fox (left). “I’m probably more squeamish now and just couldn’t be bothered with the fear. I get more scared with the supernatural element.”
The series might not always make for easy viewing, but the dialogue can be just as difficult to digest, with characters articulating their intentions in the most profound and poetic ways.
“There’s not a thick one in the bunch!” agrees Piper, laughing. “None of them have missed their English Lit class. I think John really goes for the poetry and the smarts of it.
“I find that’s what’s maybe missing in other things, because they’re heavily focusing on iconic literary figures in Penny Dreadful, he’s got the scope to do that and it makes sense.”
At eight episodes, the new series is shorter than previous seasons, but the team were still filming for six months to make it.
“It’s a long shoot, but because it’s an ensemble, we get days off,” says Piper, who lives in north London. And she still managed to find time for other projects, including City Of Tiny Lights, which is set for release later this year.
“It’s with Riz Ahmed, a noir thriller based in Nineties London. There are few different storylines, but basically it’s all about Riz’s character, lost love, race and revenge.”
Sounds like she needs a little light relief?
“If Penny Dreadful goes again, it’s another year of that,” says Piper, laughing. “But then, I think it’s a long line of Noel Coward plays!”
Penny Dreadful, Sky Atlantic, Tuesday, 10pm
