Cast members of a new Sky series recently paid a visit to Lancashire police's forensics lab, to help get a feel for real-life scientific investigations.
Ahead of the airing of a new Sky Original series, Wolfe, cast members Amanda Abbington, Babou Ceesay and creator Paul Abbott, described what it was like to work alongside the police at the forensic department at Lancaster University.
For Rogue One star Babou Ceesay, Sherlock’s Amanda Abbington and the cast of new Sky Original crime drama, a day at the office doesn’t usually involve being surrounded by masses of confiscated class-B drugs.
Stepping inside Lancashire Police’s state-of-the-art forensic training laboratory however, the visit proved an immersive learning experience for all concerned.
Upon being introduced to the forensic officers working within the facility’s drug department, Amanda, 47, said: “There was just weed everywhere and they were just laughing about it.
“There’s this kind of nonchalance about what they do, you know? For skivvies like us, we just go ‘Oh Christ!’ but it’s all part of their job.”
Amanda, who is the ex-partner of Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman – says the visit helped her step into the shoes of her character, forensic investigator Dot, alerting her to a set of common characteristics exhibited by those working in the field.
She continued: "It was the way they talked about their job and their attitudes towards it.
"Their unwavering sense of humour – and a lot of it was dark actually; I think that the only way they can cope with all the things they see is through humour.
"And I definitely think we have that in our show.”
Wolfe is a humorous yet sinister six-part series, and is the brainchild of Bafta award-winning screenwriter Paul Abbott - best known for his work on Coronation Street and Shameless.
Paul, 61, said the new series is built upon “mischief” and “delinquency”.
He added: "I have a petulance about the way I construct stuff, I guess, because most of it I’ve never seen before.
"I love watching forensic shows, posh ones, big American ones, but there’s no room for the people inside those shelves.
“I love cop shows, but I just wish they were more humorous, more witty.
"So we took it to an extreme and created a pantomime version. This is a totally different construction. But it’s basically for the same selfish reason that it’s what I want to watch.”
Centred around lauded Professor Wolfe Kinteh played by Babou Ceesay, the crime scene expert heads up the local university’s forensic science department – a mixture of veteran team members like Dot (Abbington) and Steve (Adam Long), alongside green university proteges including Maggy (Naomi Yang) and Dominique (Shaniqua Okwok).
A co-dependent relationship thought up by Abbott, the writer questioned whether the idea of a police forensic department embedded within a university could already exist.
He said: “We had a police adviser who said ‘it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. In a university where there are students, you’ve got a forensic lab? No, it would never happen’.”
However, shortly after, Abbott discovered such a unit already in existence at the University of Lancaster – a site incorporating the drugs unit later visited by the cast.
With the show’s lead character described as “half genius, half liability”, it’s revealed that Wolfe struggles with bipolar disorder.
A mental health condition that causes extreme behavioural changes, at times his bipolarity results in an all guns blazing approach to crime solving that is scrutinised by many.
Working hand in hand with the police on live investigations, gruesome scenes are a regular occurrence for Wolfe and his university team.
And revealing there was a need for “maggot wranglers” on set, Amanda added: "All the forensic people that came in and the people that work in mortuaries have said, ‘yeah, this is exactly what it’s like’.”
Despite copious amounts of blood and plenty of prosthetic limbs, Babou notes the meticulous nature of the scientific investigations suited him down to a tee.
He said: “I used to be a microbiologist, so being in a lab and stuff like that doesn’t necessarily faze me.
“I’m addicted to forensic shows.
"I watch Forensic Files and have maybe seen 80 per cent of them – and I think there are hundreds of them.
"Literally, that’s my Sunday afternoon, I just love watching people solve murders, it helps me sleep at night.”
Sky Original Drama, Wolfe, airs on Sky Max and is available to stream on NOW from September 11.
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