You\u2019ll never wheel your suitcase through an airport in the same way again. Hit techno-conspiracy drama The Capture makes its long-awaited comeback with a chilling, thrilling opening sequence at Heathrow Terminal\u00a05. When a hostile Russian asset lands in the UK, he hacks CCTV cameras and uses real-time image manipulation to bypass border controls and passport checks. He\u2019s travelling under a deepfake avatar \u2013 and let\u2019s just say he\u2019s not in London to visit M&M\u2019s World or see the Paddington musical.<\/p>\n
Written and created by former documentary-maker Ben Chanan, The Capture\u2019s ripped-from-the-headlines mix of government AI usage, state-sponsored cyber-attacks, dark web data analytics and deepfake doppelgangers will make you fear for the future. The show\u2019s star Holliday Grainger<\/a> compares it to \u201ca longform Black Mirror\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cEach series explores technology that feels just one step ahead of reality,\u201d says the Manchester-born 37-year-old. \u201cIn the era of AI, it feels more and more timely. Ben does a lot of research and we have advisers who inform us about the latest developments. Not just from the Met and counter-terror but military consultants as well. They\u2019re banks of information and a lot more open than you\u2019d expect because it\u2019s all off the record. The chill is the bluntness with which they say it. They\u2019re not revealing their most classified secrets, just their run-of-the mill, day-to-day work. That\u2019s the scariest bit. You think, if this is the stuff you\u2019re allowed to tell me \u2013 about weapons of mass destruction or averting world war three \u2013 what are\u00a0the\u00a0real\u00a0secrets?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s terrifying what TikTok or Insta can do every day\u2019, says Grainger. Photograph: Laurence Cendrowicz\/BBC<\/p>\n With the White House routinely posting AI images on social media, fact is now as outlandish as fiction. \u201cWhen the first series aired, some of the audience thought it was far-fetched,\u201d says Grainger. \u201cIt\u2019s really not. Things are developing at such an astonishing speed that it surprises people. If things are happening before you can even imagine them, how are they ever going to be regulated? It\u2019s the pace of progress and lack of guardrails that makes it so sinister. It\u2019s terrifying what TikTok or Insta can do every day. Of course, if used right, AI could be brilliant. But there\u2019s a wealth and breadth of misinformation out there\u00a0which AI could be learning from and spreading further. That makes me nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n Atmospherically scored by Blur\u2019s Dave Rowntree, the third series is an addictive, adrenalised rollercoaster of shootouts and shock plot twists. There\u2019s also a seemingly invisible, invincible assassin and an eye-watering torture scene involving cattle prods. Has making such a paranoid, post-truth show affected Grainger\u2019s own worldview? \u201cIt\u2019s completely reframed the way in which I read and watch the news,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m more sceptical about global events in general. Instead of just questioning what I see, I\u2019m like: \u2018Well, this is happening already and\u00a0we\u2019re doomed.\u2019 I\u2019ve realised that if you\u2019re going to have a smartphone, you\u2019re fucked anyway. You might as well say yes to accepting all the cookies.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s equally alert to AI\u2019s potential to decimate the creative industries. \u201cEven during the Writers Guild strikes, I was a bit naive as to how quickly AI could change what we do. Already friends of mine are refusing to sign contracts and losing jobs because they won\u2019t give away the rights to their performance to be manipulated and used again. That\u2019s another threat of AI. Will it put an end to human artistry? It\u2019s\u00a0amazing technology but we keep hearing about misuses of it. Humans always\u00a0fuck it up,\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0we?\u201d<\/p>\n As The Capture returns, Grainger\u2019s character \u2013 DCI Rachel Carey, nicknamed \u201cfast-track princess\u201d \u2013 is now acting commander of the Metropolitan police\u2019s Counter Terrorism Command (CTC). \u201cIt\u2019s tough at the top,\u201d says Grainger. \u201cYou know when politicians become prime minister and suddenly age 20 years? You can see the weight of all the heavy secrets they\u2019ve just learned. That\u2019s what this series is for Carey. Everybody thinks they\u2019re Barry Big Bollocks. They go into a job with strong morals, thinking they\u2019ll do it differently. But when it comes to it, it\u2019s actually just hard work and compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n Grainger\u2019s preparation for series one included shadowing homicide officers and fast-track detectives. This time round, she undertook firearms training. \u201cCarey carries a gun in the field for the first time, so I did a two-day course. It\u2019s always fun learning new skills. We were taught the differences between how military and police hold their guns, how they might check it\u2019s loaded in slightly different ways. I\u2019ve done bits and bobs of weapons training before but this time, it really sunk in. I\u2019m fully prepared for our dystopian\u00a0future now!\u201d<\/p>\n Does she do her own stunts? \u201cKind of. It\u2019s mainly running, ducking, diving and hiding. They\u2019re not going to get a stunt double in for that. Although there\u2019s a one-shot sequence of me inside a van. It was literally me and the camera guy rolling around in this van for 10\u00a0minutes. Giving chase, taking phone calls, having a collision. That took some proper stuntwork, trying to sell the bangs, crashes and spins. I only got one little injury from it. I love the physicality of action scenes. The show is very cerebral, so it adds a different energy. They\u2019re some of my favourite days.\u201d<\/p>\n When Carey isn\u2019t barking orders or spouting spy jargon in the hi-tech CTC ops room, she\u2019s striding purposefully down corridors and across streets in a flowing coat, while pouting pensively. \u201cShe\u2019s got a baller walk, hasn\u2019t she?\u201d laughs Grainger. \u201cIt\u2019s partly my own walk and partly the coat. There\u2019s a bit of a swagger in it.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of that trademark coat, Grainger says real-life cops\u2019 clothes are a case of life imitating art. \u201cIt\u2019s funny how we all watch police shows and go: \u2018Why are they running around in high heels?\u2019 When I was shadowing at Hendon [the Met\u2019s principal training centre], women wore stilettos. Female DCIs were discussing Gillian Anderson\u2019s outfits in The Fall. A male officer had a picture of Luther on his desk. I was like: \u2018Oh, so you\u2019re dressing like the cops on the telly?\u2019 I do get asked a lot about where Carey\u2019s coat is from.\u201d What\u2019s the answer? \u201cIt\u2019s tailor-made. Can\u2019t buy it, sorry. It\u2019s couture, darling!\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s often an expectation for female leads to be likable and relatable. Carey is spiky and plain-speaking, which Grainger finds a breath of fresh air: \u201cShe\u2019s not someone who needs to be liked, which is quite refreshing. We don\u2019t delve deep into her backstory, which is what makes a lot of onscreen detectives sympathetic. Carey struggles socially and doesn\u2019t seem to have many mates. It\u2019s all about the work for her. She\u2019s sacrificed a lot for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n View to a kill \u2026 Grainger with Paapa Essiedu in The Capture. Photograph: Laurence Cendrowicz\/BBC<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the use of tech where The Capture proves topical. There are prescient plotlines about small boats and anti-immigration activists. Intelligence bigwigs discuss the threat from Russia and the need to \u201cavoid another\u00a0Salisbury\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBen has an uncanny knack,\u201d says Grainger. \u201cHe somehow sees where things are about to go.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re speaking in the week of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor\u2019s arrest and Peter Mandelson\u2019s downfall for their involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. One conversation between Carey and veteran spook Gemma Garland (Lia Williams) about \u201cthe establishment boys\u2019 club closing ranks\u201d feels even more resonant. \u201cAgreed,\u201d nods Grainger. \u201cThese are solid, deeply embedded institutions which have been around for generations. You can\u2019t sweep that away with one MeToo movement. There won\u2019t be major societal shift overnight because it involves generations of learning. Change is a work in progress. It\u2019s a long game.\u201d<\/p>\n The Capture\u2019s debut series<\/a> in 2019 revolved round doctored CCTV evidence of murder by a British soldier, played by Callum Turner \u2013 currently tipped to be the next 007. (\u201cHe\u2019d make a great Bond!\u201d grins Grainger.) \u201cThe producers should just watch The Capture season one.\u201d The new run sees the return of series two<\/a>\u2019s hotshot politician Isaac Turner (Paapa Essiedu) and the arrival of enigmatic Noah Pierson (Killian Scott). Carey also resumes her frenemy relationship with BBC News presenter Khadija Khan (Indira Varma<\/a>). \u201cMove over Emily Maitlis!\u201d\u00a0Grainger says. \u201cI think Indira\u2019s wasted in the acting world. She pulls off Newsnight host so brilliantly. We filmed on the actual Newsnight set last series and that was a treat. The show\u2019s themes feels oddly close to home when you\u2019re actually in the BBC.\u201d<\/p>\n Frenemies \u2026 Grainger with Indira Varma as Khadija Khan in The Capture. Photograph: Laurence Cendrowicz\/BBC<\/p>\n Grainger\u2019s other major TV role, of course, is private investigator Robin Ellacott in Strike, the BBC\u2019s hit adaptation of the crime novels by Robert Galbraith (AKA JK Rowling). She\u2019s currently wrapping shooting on the seventh instalment, The Running Grave, which sees Robin go undercover in a religious cult. \u201cI\u2019ve got three different hairstyles going on this season,\u201d says Grainger. \u201cThat\u2019s the game everyone can play \u2013 guess which one\u2019s my own hair and which are wigs.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet ask for Grainger\u2019s career highlights and you get a surprising answer. She names underrated 2009 film The Scouting Book for Boys (\u201cIt was written by the mighty Jack Thorne and is still probably my favourite ever job\u201d) and children\u2019s comedy Roger and the Rottentrolls. \u201cI did it when I was nine and it was like the original Mighty Boosh!\u201d<\/p>\n After The Capture and Strike, what\u2019s her next move? \u201cYour career has stages. I played lots of northern parts when I was younger, although I think my Mancunian accent has crept away without me noticing. Then I did lots of corseted, period princesses. Now I\u2019m in my detective era. I\u2019ve got my gunplay down, so maybe my action era is next. Or give me a romcom! Romcomaction \u2013 is that a genre? I\u2019d\u00a0be well up for that.\u201d<\/p>\n The Capture returns to BBC One at 9pm on 8 March. Episodes will be available from 6am on BBC iPlayer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019ll never wheel your suitcase through an airport in the same way again. 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