Ewen Bremner, known for portraying Spud in Trainspotting and Austin in Arthur Matthews' heart wrenchingly woeful Wide Open Spaces (to be fair, it must've been difficult for Ewan to undertake the 'Dougal' roll while Ardal O'Hanlon was grappling the' Ted' role. If you've never seen Wide Open Spaces, avoid at all costs. It's singularly the most stratospherically depressing film a Father Ted fan can sit through), has spoken out about the depiction of addiction in Blackout, a three part series which started airing on Monday.
Speaking with Digital Spy, Bremner said: "I think all the characters in the programme are wrestling with their conscience and their weaknesses and giving into temptation. I guess in terms of how [addiction has] been portrayed there are huge differences. In Trainspotting it was very specific and it went into a lot of detail and a lot of depth, and on a lot of levels it was about community and those involved in drugs. Whereas this is more specifically about alcohol and it's investigated how the effects of this addiction spiral into numerous consequences in this man's life. I think the focus on addiction isn't as explicit. I think the focus of addiction is more on a thematic level rather than an explicit level… If you keep secrets, big secrets can imprison you, so the show looks at that problem. If I watch something I want to be wondering what is going to happen next, I want to be engaged in a way that makes me ask questions and think about how I can relate myself to the characters and the issues that are there. But if it's just fluff and everything is spelt out, I find it difficult to concentrate."
Blackout, which centres around Christopher Eccleston's corrupt politician who wakes after a booze binge to learn he's savagely beaten a man, also stars Andrew Scott, MyAnna Buring and Dervla Kirwan.
Watch Blackout on BBC1 on Monday at 9.00pm. View the trailer for Blackout over in ePlayer.
