Shaun Dingwall – David Grant
Shaun Dingwall reckons that Survivors will make its audience think about what kind of people they really are – and could become if the worst should ever happen...
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Shaun, who plays David, the hard-working husband of Abby [Julie Graham], says with a laugh: "I'd like to think I'd be a goodie, not a baddie, in that situation.
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"I think a lot of people could surprise themselves in a positive way in terms of how they'd react, but it's also easy to see how others would become feral."
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According to Shaun, Cormac McCarthy's bleak novel about a post-apocalyptic world, The Road, became essential reading among the Survivors cast during filming.
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"In terms of the acting, you do the initial research and then you just act what you're given in the script. You can't take that stuff home with you or think about it all the time."
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Shaun, whose previous roles include Rose Tyler's dad Pete in Doctor Who and Major Godber in the BAFTA award-winning Mark Of Cain, says the virus strikes just as David and Abby are trying to get their life back on track after son Peter's recovery from leukaemia.
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"It's taken a lot out of them, and initially the dynamic in their relationship is very much that he is the practical, pragmatic one whereas Abby is more emotional.
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"What's fascinating is you don't really know how you'd react. You might think you'd be a natural-born leader but thrown into this kind of situation, who knows? Things get flipped and you behave in ways you wouldn't expect."
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Shaun was too young to see the original series, but says: "I can recall it being on but not being allowed to watch as I was about five at the time. I remember being quite fearful of it, being slightly scared but not really knowing why."
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And how does he see it in 2008? "It's just such a great concept and one that seems so prescient, so relevant to now.
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"Obviously the characters are in an appalling situation, but there's a childish part of me that thinks it could also be quite good fun," he smiles.
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"That element of being able to go where you want and do what you like is quite appealing. I don't smoke, but I could imagine going into some deserted pub to have a cigarette just because I could."
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