Misfits - Interviews - Howard Overman Interview - Channel 4 Do the five central characters have to use their superpowers to fight evil?
They kind of do, but the point of the show is really that the world doesn't always break down into these neat categories of good versus evil. Our kids are all convicted criminals, after all, and they party hard and all the rest of it. So they,re quite unconventional heroes, but their fundamental nature is good. What they find themselves battling is their own personal issues, and a world that has become much more complicated by their powers. It’s more about that than battling some evil force that wants to take over the world - although the final episode is a kind of bigger climax. And it's also about the people close to them who might suddenly have discovered powers, from friends to step-dads. It's more about that than the ideas of a stereotypical nemesis who wants to take over the world. The series plays on the whole nature of antisocial behaviour and teen behaviour and what's right and what's wrong, rather than it being about good and evil.
Are you making a point about how we demonise teenagers with this series? Are you saying we're too judgmental about that generation?
I think that's sort of in the DNA of the show. We don't ever really discuss it in the show. The middle England attitude towards teenagers has been well-documented, and this isn't the sort of show where we make overtly political points, so I think it's more that it's in the premise of the show. To be fair, these kids aren't angels, they've all been found guilty of what they did. They're kids who got up to what a lot of us did as teenagers, but they maybe pushed it a bit more or just got caught. They're not outrageous, but they're not angelic either. They're not feral kids, they're not mean and nasty, they're not mugging or stabbing people, but they might be from slightly the wrong side of the tracks.
You're writing about teenagers. As a 36-year-old, how do you write characters of that age?
I think it's just about making sure you remember what it was like, and drawing on how you felt as a teenager. I don't think having your heart broken now is any different from how it felt when we were 18. I think it's about just remembering what it was like. And I think these days we all grow up so much more slowly than we used to. I still enjoy much the same things that I did in my early 20s, so it's not like that much has changed. And once you've got the characters, you get into a zone with them and you hear their voice and think about how they'd react in any given situation. And when we got the actors on board I did sessions with all the actors to make sure they were happy with the dialogue.
REVIEW: Misfits, The Superhero TV Show From E4 BleedingCool.com
This is a drama about an abandoned underclass, with their fears, their hopes and their dreams turned from subtext into text, exaggerated into superpowers. So we have a introvert turned invisible man, a man with regrets able to turn back time, one concerned with how everyone sees her able to read thoughts, a hyper-sexualised extrovert giving out orgasms at a touch and an overconfident spiv with…. nothing. So far. Oh and their community officer is seriously on their case.
Kelly is a chav. A ned. A redneck. Poor of background, financially and culturally, she defines herself with certain bling, and aggressive attitude and a Croydon facelift, hair pulled back so tight it takes the bags under the eyes with it. As a telepath, she thinks she’s hallucinating, still tripping on something as she can hear her fellow Misfits, boyfriend, even her dog’s thoughts. A remarkable and original twist on the gift. And so it takes her a long time to put things together. No nosebleeds, no head full of everyone speaking, external thoughts come rarely, but when they do come, she can’t help but acting as if they were spoken to her. Hence fight scenes.
Alisha is an empowered young lady not afraid to use her body and sexuality to impress, tease and entertain, Basically, she’s a slut. Sorry, but she is. And her power to make any man attracted to her to the point of rape scares her silly, confronting her about the dangers in the world and her effect on those around her in a way she’s clearly never cared about before.
There’s a sensational juxtaposition of Alisha blowing her water bottle for the entertainment of the other male cast, while Kelly is being pursued by one trying to kill her. The back and forth contrasts the world that was with the world that is to come.
Curtis the failed sports star done for drugs possession has had the farthest to fall. And with an ability to turn back time, but not far enough, his frustrations can only continue. His life experience probably makes him the most sane and mature of the lot of them. But then that’s not saying too much.
It’s also worth pointing out that Overman tells us there are many more superpowered indivuals to come, but many with very poor powers that reflect their emotional state when the lightning hit. However he rejects the labels of hero and villain here, seeing only people and their very human desires, albeit exaggerated ones.
Simon, Mr Invisible, the shy awkward nerd with a history of arson and some strange fetishes that come to the fore when Alisha touches him. He’s clearly scared that he’s mad, and the teasing of the group only convinced him further. This is a far more realistic reaction to receiving superpowers than is usually granted to them. The most unknown of the group, the second episode sees the inevitable locker room scene, but on the form of the first episode, it’s most likely to go off at a very different angle.
Nathan, the man without powers but with a mouth to make up for it. Reminiscent of Dexter Fletcher’s Spike Thompson in Press Gang, we get to see more of his scared, lonely side, that hides behind a brash exterior, a family who have rejected him and friends who abandon him, never affecting his exterior of cool cohesion. Sexually confident, and probably with every right to be.
And they all gel together through common experience, even if their personalities drive them away. This is your ultimate dysfunctional superhero team, hell, they have no idea if they even want to be superheroes. There are so many other options out there.