The Cleaner

Wicky visits a social media influencer with millions of followers and an unhealthy obsession with the 1980s.

Wicky attends the home of 'Home Alone Hosea', a 23 year old social media influencer with millions of followers and an obsession with the 1980s. Wicky is amazed to be surrounded by the relics of his childhood; one of which, a dangerously malfunctioning arcade machine, has recently electrocuted a repairman. Wicky does his usual professional job of clearing up the mess, but Hosea is furious: the electrician's gory remains were perfect viral content, and Hosea was planning a live stream from the scene of the accident but his house is now horrifyingly clean. As they look for a solution out of this cleared-up mess, their generation gap becomes ever more obvious.

Layton Williams interview

Tell us a bit about your character and what attracted you to the role?

My amazing, beautiful, talented LOL character 'Home Alone Hosea' is an influencer and is social media obsessed. He got left by his parents in a big house all by himself when he was younger and he became an internet sensation. But with that of course comes a lot of tougher moments because he didn't get to see or do much in the real world.

This is why I think the relationship between Hosea and Wicky is so amazing, because they are two very unlikely friends, people you wouldn't think would get along but they do. But Hosea has a really good heart and by the end of the episode you feel for him and realise he is a good kid. He thinks he is doing these things for the likes on social media, but comes to understand that life is not about the double taps.

When I read the script I remember thinking 'this is a bit of me', I kept reading and reading and it was a time when I was taking a break from everything because of the pandemic - theatres were closing and I was free! So it was amazing having a whole episode as a guest 'star', even though I don't like to call myself a star!

The line-up is iconic! I mean if Helena Bonham Carter is getting an episode, I wanted one! When I went to my chemistry read with Greg, I saw a medic who was getting all hyped and I knew they had a story to tell that they wanted to get it off their chest, so I was like 'Go on what do you want to say?' and they said 'I just had to put a swab down Helena Bonham Carter's mouth!' I was like 'OH, what's she doing here?!' and then I realised she was in the cast too and I was like 'oh my God!'. I am so excited to see everyone else's episodes and I'm just really privileged to star alongside such a stellar group of people.

What was the most enjoyable part of filming for you?

The most enjoyable part was the location. It was unreal. The crib we were filming in was iconic, it was all very eco-friendly and everything was self-serviced by natural movements of the light. I don't know the science behind it, but it was lit and I was really bouncing around the place as if it was mine.

Every day was a new fun experience. One day we are on space hoppers, another we are on bicycles, I know it sounds weird, but I don't ride a bike very often so it was so much fun. Next thing you know we are playing sports games with bats! We were really put through our paces but it was so fun and I was constantly surprised by what was going on in that moment. I beamed all week!

I also loved the costume, the make-up and the set designs - the team were a whole bunch of huns, we were all on the same page and it all just pops on the screen!

How was it working with Greg Davies?

Working with Greg was iconic - he is an absolute star, and such a lovely guy! You never really know what people are like when you see them on TV, we all put on a persona when we have to, but he is just amazing.

We were laughing so much on screen and off screen, and had an absolute lol, we'd be singing all day, it was an absolute pleasure. He was really patient and open to letting me try different things and if I said 'Can we try it like this?' or 'I think the kids would like this', that's not me thinking I'm young, but if I thought something might work he'd say 'Yeah go for it!'. So we had lots of improvisation moments which I hope make it in!

Are there any funny anecdotes from filming you can share?

It was so much fun spraying the jam, even though I did some accidental sprays when I shouldn't have. I did a pirouette with the syringe in my hand and said 'Oh my God, maybe I should try this' and I literally squirted the blood the whole way around the room and it was a clean squirt! I thought 'Oh no, what am I gonna do!' so they had to make me repeat the squirt a few days later for continuity! It was amazing, but don't go running round doing pirouettes when you are squirting blood because things will get dirty!

If you ever met a real crime scene cleaner, what would you ask them?

I would ask 'How do you sleep at night?' because I would be traumatised! When I walked in and saw all the blood, it made me feel sick even though it was fake! So 'How do they turn off from work life and not think about the dead bodies they've been cleaning up all day?'