Aidan Turner speaks to Backstage about power dynamics and tennis in new drama Fifteen-Love
Poldark star Aidan Turner believes his new series will get audiences questioning why they choose to believe certain versions of events.
In Fifteen-Love, the actor plays a tennis coach accused of misconduct by a former player – and at first, it’s not clear who is telling the truth.
Turner told Sky News’ Backstage podcast it was something of a lesson in terms of reserving judgement.
“In our first couple of episodes we’re playing with that – where’s the truth in this relationship?” he said. “As an audience, who do we believe and on what grounds, and with no evidence who’s coming across as somebody who’s believable or not?
“Okay, just because somebody might be a little messy or chaotic in their life or whatever, and another person might have quite a subdued disposition, why is it that we go for that person as opposed to somebody else? And should we be more careful with our choices?
“Because that’s quite a dangerous thing, to make those initial judgements on somebody just because of the way they might hold themselves or conduct themselves that has actually nothing to do with the truth of what the situation is. And therein lies the trouble with this kind of situation, you know: who do we believe in, and on what basis?”
While the show is set in the world of tennis, it is really about exploring power and relationships rather than the sport itself. Turner says it reflects real-world issues, which until 2022 meant a sports coach was not bound by the same laws regarding positions of trust as, say, a teacher would have been.
“I remember the initial conversations with Hania [Elkington], our writer, and she was just explaining to me the Sexual Offences Act and how that worked, and how a person of trust with a relationship – like if you had a doctor and a patient, or a teacher and a student, that kind of thing – how that that didn’t correlate with coaches,” he said.
“So you could have a relationship with somebody you were coaching and this loophole has now been filled in but for so long this had been a huge problem that people were just not talking about for some reason, and that was really, really shocking to me.
“That’s something else I think our show does point to, is: what are the safeguards now? What are the parameters? How do we protect players? What should we expect with coaches and what isn’t right?”
Turner on set with co-star Ella Lily Hyland. Pic: Prime Video
Turner’s co-star, Ella Lily Hyland, who plays his accuser, Justine, said that seeing the spaces where tennis stars train helped her to get in to character.
“I think when you’re in those environments, you can just see it and imagine it, I guess,” she said. “And maybe that’s because we were telling that particular story so sometimes it can kind of be in your head but [there were also] countless accounts of this kind of thing, like you could research for years, really sadly.”
While Turner is perhaps best known for his leading role in the period drama Poldark, other recent characters he’s taken on have included a clinical psychologist in police drama The Suspect and Leonardo Da Vinci in a biopic series about the artist.
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But Fifteen-Love presented an opportunity he’d not had before.
“I think he’s like no other character I’ve played before, off the bat I would say that. On reading the first couple of scripts, I thought they’re really smart. I think Hania is a brilliant writer, I think there’s lots of things that she’s saying in this story that need to be said, I think it feels important and I think it’s just beautifully well-balanced with great characters.”
Plus it gave Turner an opportunity to brush up on his tennis skills – something he admits he did need.
“I’d done a bit, played a lot of badminton and I thought that would correlate, stupidly – it doesn’t, it’s an entirely different sport. They both have handles and rackets, that’s it, there’s no other comparison!
“So yeah, it was tricky, it was hard. I didn’t do quite as much training as the other guys did, but I did a bit and I was all right, I think I’m convincing as a coach… I think!”
Fifteen-Love is out on Prime Video. Hear our review in the latest episode of Backstage, the film and TV podcast from Sky News
Entertainment
Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
The Avon & Somerset force started investigating the Irish group’s show last month, as well as comments by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
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One of the group’s members appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.
He was released on unconditional bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.
Entertainment
Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
The fire gutted the main stage
Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
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Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.
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