High-stress kitchen dramas are having something of a moment. Last month, The Bear had us all dreaming of the perfect doughnut, yelling ‘Behind!’, and wondering, just how often do chefs end up stabbed in the butt at work? And earlier this year, national treasure Stephen Graham blew audiences away with his intense performance as chef-on-the-edge Andy Jones in Philip Barantini’s one-take, restaurant-set, Boiling Point. The good news is, a second course is coming – we’ll return to the BPCU (Boiling Point Cinematic Universe) in a new five-part BBC series. The surprising news is, Graham is set to reprise his role, even after the last shot of the movie left his character presumed dead. So just how is Andy going to be coming back?
“Well, we wrote it as a heart attack. In our minds, he lived,” Barantini explains to Empire, in our new world-exclusive Indiana Jones issue. “It was definitely left open to interpretation. So when the BBC approached us about doing a TV show and we spoke to Stephen, it felt like the right thing to do.” Though Graham is returning, he won’t be the lead, as he was in the film. This time, we’ll be focusing on his sous chef Carly, played (excellently) by Vinette Robinson. “Stephen’s incredibly busy so wasn’t able to do the full series,” says Barantini.
Barantini will also be switching up the filmmaking format with the serialised sequel, choosing to leave the one-take strategy of Boiling Point’s big-screen incarnation behind. “We made the decision early on that we wouldn’t film it in one take,” the director tells Empire. “It wasn’t sustainable for the story we wanted to tell. And for the viewer, five hour-long episodes of that is just too intense.” But, Barantini assures us, “It’s still very stressful.” Sounds like a sharp increase in blood pressure is most definitely still on the menu.
Read Empire’s full Boiling Point story in the new world-exclusive Indiana Jones 5 issue – out on newsstands now, or you can pre-order a copy here.