Atlantis star Jack Donnelly reveals the mythical city and its citizens face some challenging times in the new series (BBC1, Saturday)... And many of the classical myths are turned on their head in the process!
Mark Addy said in a recent interview, the second series of Atlantis is much darker than the first. What do you think?
“It’s not the follow up you’d expect! It’s reinvented and changed in every single way, and I think it’s better for it.”
How has it been changed?
“They’re really opened the show up. It’s much more about how Atlantis works. It feels much bigger.”
Atlantis plays around with classical mythology. Are you OK with this?
“If the writers stuck to the myths exactly everyone would know what’s happening the whole time. But because they’re not afraid to mess with the myths it keeps people on their toes! If this sparks an interest in mythology for a younger audience and they go out and find out about the stories for real, then that’s a great thing.”
We understand your heroic character, Jason, has two romance stories this year. One with Queen Ariadne and one with mysterious newcomer Medea. What can you tell us?
“I really like Jason’s storylines this year. The thing about him is he has a strong moral compass, is heroic and saves lives – but he’s never had anything to challenge this. But that all falls apart around him this series! He does have something with two women at the same time, and that really challenges what he thinks of himself. I can’t reveal too much, but there is connection between him and Medea which could make her Ariadne’s rival.”
How do you think fans will react?
“I think it probably takes the shine off him as a hero character, but makes him more real to an audience. It’s interesting to see how these two stories with Ariadne and Medea play out. The female characters this year are really strong. Ayisha Hart who plays Ariadne, Amy Manson who plays Medea and Sarah Parish who plays Pasiphae are very much at the forefront of all the stories."
