And now, the end is near, and so Plebs faces the final curtain… but not without a bang. Heading out on a high with a feature-length film exclusive to ITVX, actor and writer Tom Basden sat down with FILMHOUNDS to chat about why Plebs might not be dead in the ground.
We're almost 10 years on from when plebs first started. Are you proud of the legacy? Are you proud of what you've achieved and leaving on ITVX now?
I mean, I think so. I think that you know, the strange thing about TV shows is that you never really get to understand how an audience receives something until much later — until you're kind of lucky enough to kind of meet people you know, any kind of live event like that. So it's hard to get a sense of what the legacy of the show is and how people feel about the show. But certainly, from all the interactions I've had with Plebs fans over the years, I feel like I'm very proud of how loved the show is and how much people have enjoyed the show, and have seen it as quite a dependable warm, funny way to spend time. So I'm very proud of that and very sad that it's ending. I think it's kind of probably right that it is. I think everything kind of has to, and I'm very happy that we're ending it in the way that we are. So I've mixed feelings, I guess.
So that flip from going into making a TV series to a longer special — was that always the plan?
So Sam (Leifer) who I write the show with had been wanting to make a feature-length version for some time. And I think it was a sort of pie-in-the-sky idea for ages, but that is the reason why we held back a story of the boys going to war. Because we always felt that if we did do a film, we'd really kick ourselves if we used that story in one of the series in like a 22-minute episode. It was just it would just be a bit of a waste that wouldn't really want to do it justice. And so we kind of deliberately held it back, even though one of the best-known things about the Roman Empire of course is that they're quite aggressive militarily. We held onto that hoping that one day we would get to do exactly this. So yeah, it has been a long time in the making. And then of course, you're going to shoot in 2020 and then COVID happens, so we had to delay until this year.
So how was trying to navigate that — a post-pandemic filming world?
I mean, to be honest, the worst part was was was 2020 and 2021 when we were just waiting around to see what would happen, to see what was possible. We shoot the show in Bulgaria, so that's the other complication. We knew that in order to do it in the way that we wanted to we would have to shoot abroad, and that just wasn't really possible until I guess midway through 2021 — and even then getting insurance was a nightmare. It was really stressful. Not so much for me because I just kind of write and wait for Sam and Teddy to produce it. And it certainly looked like it wasn't going to happen a few times. So I'm thrilled that we got to do it.
There's been a bit of a time since the last series. Did you have like fan requests being like “I'd love to see this, this, and this?” I know of certain shows people can get so wrapped up in if there's a fanbase like yours.
I don't know. I don't really spend any time on Twitter or social media. I don't have any sort of direct messages like that. I did have someone get in touch with me via my agent to suggest investing heavily in NFTs — this was in like 2020 — and then use the profits from that to make a feature-length special. So I did have someone suggesting that. Luckily, I didn't put all my money into NFTs.
Has comedy always been your bag? Has that been something that you've like grown up with?
I think I probably did grow up watching a lot of sitcoms, and a lot of stand-up. Something like Plebs I would hope to a slightly older audience shows the influences of Monty Python, Blackadder, and Up Pompeii. Stuff like that. The Two Ronnies. I feel like growing up those are the shows I loved the most, One Foot In The Grave, Dad's Army. I think now, I kind of feel like I don't really think there's much difference between comedy and drama really. There's just so much TV that kind of blends the two and you just sort of need to take it on its own terms. I guess Plebs is probably more of a middle-of-the-bat sitcom compared to some other comedy dramas. I think what I'm really proud of with this film is that while it's always trying to be funny — and there are a lot of big, silly set pieces in it — I think we're really happy with how emotional it is at times. How invested I hope people will be in that journey or the characters. It shouldn't just feel like one silly thing after another. I hope it has a satisfying, emotional story going through.
How much prep do you actually have to do if you want to factually get the stuff right?
It depends on if I have to do any. My hope is that people won't mind historical inaccuracies. Particularly when we made the show, we did do quite a lot of research, but really the reason that we did that was primarily because we got a lot of good stories out of it. And we would discover things that Romans did in their day-to-day lives or parts of their religious practices or work life that were just really funny and silly. And you go “That would be a brilliant idea for an episode.”
So in many ways, the research was more to find things that would be good stories and funny moments. Particularly when you're making five series of something, it's really helpful to have that to harvest ideas from. Sam studied classics, and he doesn't know a lot. I know very little, to be honest with you, apart from suddenly having Gladiator and Life of Brian muddled in my head. Sam was kind of the one steering us towards historical accuracy most of the time. We wanted to make sure that the places they went to, the people that they met, and the costumes and props all have a sense of truth. I think it's a bit better for the audience if it feels like there's an element of reality to it among the silliness.
So you spoke at the ITVX event about the incredible guest stars you've worked with over five seasons. Have you got anybody lined up for this film that you're particularly excited about?
There are a few people in this one that are just so fantastic. We were very lucky to be able to get Kåre Conradi over from Norway to play a very kind of erudite, intellectual barbarian chief. We've loved him and his work for such a long time. He makes a show called Norseman, which is like a Viking version of The Thick Of It. It's so good. He's been a fan of Plebs for a long time, and we've been talking over the years. So he agreed to come over and do that and he was just so funny and got the tone of it instantly. He really analysed things and wanted to go through all Plebs episodes and really talk about the kind of themes and the absence of dramatic stakes.
Patrick Baladi was was fantastic as the General. He's just so naturally high stakes that he just brings a proper filmic gravity to things. We've been really lucky with the people, both in this in this feature and also over the years that have wanted to be part of the show. For everyone has come and done it, they usually really get into the swing of it and have fun.
Is this the definitive end, or are you more never say never, maybe if the time is right?
I'm completely in the “never say never” camp because I love the show. It's been 10/11 years of writing, filming, and editing the show. It's just been such a blast. Getting to write these kinds of stories and make up these situations has been just such a joy, that I don't really want it to end. I think that maybe there's some kind of spin-off version we could do down the line. Once Jesus is around, we can do some early Christians in Rome or something like that. Or we could do “Son of Plebs.” Just relocate to a different empire. I do. Even if it's the end of Plebs, I don't think it's the end of my work coalition with Sam — and hopefully not with a lot of the actors. We've become very close over the years and work well together, I think. So I would hope that we would find a way to kind of keep the spirit of Plebs alive, even if the body of Plebs is in the ground.
ITVX launches with exclusive content like Plebs: Soldiers of Rome on 8th December.