This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
Jack Farthing was drawn to The Rapture and his character, engineer Frasier Melville, for the same reason that he’s drawn to all the characters he’s played, from Poldark’s George Warleggan to Selby in Rain Dogs. “I love learning about different lives and I love the psychology of trying to work out how different people tick,” he says. “I’ve been part of stories that I really believe in and believe can change people’s minds and open their eyes.”
Farthing, 40, also understands the allure of dark, apocalyptic drama. “We are all catastrophists, aren’t we?” he says. “Our brains are wired to imagine the worst so we can prepare for it. And these days it’s very easy to go down a wormhole of worst-case scenarios.”
You could argue that our fascination with end-of-the-world scenarios, as demonstrated by the popularity of movies and TV shows, books and games dedicated to the subject, from War of the Worlds to The Walking Dead and from Pluribus to The Rapture, is a cultural articulation of what Freud called “the death drive”, the unconscious urge towards self-destruction and oblivion. And Farthing is quick to identify why dramatists are drawn to dire straits.
“Dramatically, people are at their most interesting in extreme circumstances. Put interesting, witty, intelligent, wounded characters into extreme circumstances and you’re on your way to compelling drama.”
Plus, he says, “We’re all interested in the answer to the question: how would you behave in such a situation? What would your impulses and instincts be?”
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As to how he reacts in a crisis, Farthing makes a claim to being quite practical. “I think I am, but you never really know, do you?”
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Authors
Gareth McLean has been writing about television for nearly 30 years. As a critic, he’s reviewed thousands of programmes. As a feature writer, he’s interviewed hundreds of people, from Liza Minnelli to Jimmy Savile. He has also written for TV.
