Matt Berry interview
Following a successful pilot, Channel 4 sitcom Toast Of London, written by Matt Berry and Arthur Mathews, is now here for a full series. We caught up with Matt Berry to find out more...
Hi Matt. You must be pleased to have been given the budget to make more episodes of Toast Of London?
Yes indeed. Arthur and I certainly felt after the pilot that we had a lot of situations of varying extremes that we wanted to apply to the character so it was great to be able to have the chance and money to be able to do them.
Did you learn anything in the process of making the pilot?
Absolutely. The point, as you know, of any pilot is to try things out and make mistakes, as well as take note of the things that worked out or were a surprise. That covers the tone, certain performers, devices, or just the pace. It's so valuable to get the chance to pilot an idea despite the initial supposed (often falsely) diss that is associated with the word.
Steven Toast is quite a complex and flawed character. Is he based on any 'real life' actors you know?
Yes he is. He's based on quite a few actors I have worked with. There is certain type of actor of a certain age who can be constantly furious.
I worked with an older actor who couldn't bear to hear the name of his contemporaries, especially if they were (in his eyes) more successful than himself, so I used to comment on seeing John Hurt in a film or Brian Cox because I knew the actor would flip and immediately furnish me with three amazingly damning anecdotes about them which would be not only pricelessly entertaining but also now prove useful in the writing of this series.
Ha ha. Nice. Toast is quite successful with women. What's his secret?
Steven Toast has success with the ladies because he is completely convinced that every woman he meets is going to find him attractive. It's this level of blind faith that possibly intrigues ladies.
You have some fantastic actors appearing alongside you, plus have booked exciting cameo appearances from the likes of Carol Cleveland. Did you have any involvement in the casting?
I did indeed. Myself and Arthur had pretty much every character covered in terms of which actor we felt would be perfect for the role. We both wanted Doon Mackichan, Carol Cleveland, Morgana Robinson, and Amanda Donahoe plus were eager to keep hold of cast members who had been brilliant in pilot and hoped they'd want to do it all again in a series.
Pretty much everyone in the show has a brilliant character name. Do you have a favourite?
I like Ray Purchase, Cliff Promise, Strawberry Rathbone and Sookie Housboat as well as the ridiculous Clem Fandango, the latter name being Arthur's invention. Arthur came up with Noel Early in Father Ted which is on another level, so I knew I had a like mind who is as obsessed with creating names as I am.
As a composer too, music is presumably quite important to you. Did you write the scripts with music in mind?
Sometimes. I treated the musical numbers as a cross between Dennis Potter and the Incredible Hulk. I wanted Toast to be at the end of his tether when he bursts into song much like David Banner was before he turned into the hulk. I enjoyed scoring the episodes too which was very time consuming but will, I hope, appear personal, authored and possibly different.
Without wishing to spoil the surprise, there's a rather surreal moment in the first episode in which Toast seems to break out of the standard dimensions of the show. Did you set out to make the show slightly surreal?
We deliberately set out to do something which we felt was interesting. There's no game plan for me personally, I'm interested in making something that I would personally want to see. It's all quite personal. I very much enjoy working with our director Michael Cumming as he is most alive and responsive when we decide to turn left and leave reality.
Do you have any ideas for a second series?
Too soon BCG, too soon.
Ha ha. Fair enough. We'll ask you again later - for the record, we've love to see more! Next though, you're preparing to film Vic & Bob's new sitcom House Of Fools. Your character is called 'Beef' - what's he like?
Beef has no connection or similarity with any type of person living or dead. He is mostly a mixture of an image in Vic & Bob's minds, with tiny bit of my own thrown in for spice.
We're talking just after The IT Crowd has bowed out with a final special. Are you sad it has ended, or do you think it has finished at the right time?
I think it probably finished at the right time, though it's not really for me to say as I was just a guest on the show. If the three protagonists and Graham [Linehan, the writer] wished to continue or quit I'm sure either decision would be the correct one.
Toast of London is on Channel 4 on Sundays. Here's the trailer: