THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY OF MARY BRYANT

An interview with Jack Davenport


What attracted you to The Incredible Journey Of Mary Bryant?
For starters, the fact it was a true story, even though you’re reading it and you go ‘This couldn’t get any more melodramatic if you tried’. But that’s the amazing thing – it really did happen, aside from a few trills by the writers. I also liked the complexity of Lieutenant Ralph Clarke. He’s the bad guy, but he’s the bad guy only because he consistently tries to do the right thing and fails. He’s a mixed-up, rather pious, sad little man who just f—ks it all up. When things get out of control he really makes an idiot of himself. I like that tension. Give an unconfident, unformed young man a uniform and a gun and how do you expect him to behave? He’s in a prison with no walls, men and women and children all thrown in together, and he’s a guy who doesn’t know his arse from his elbow trying to keep charge. That’s a lot of pressure for a young man.


How would you describe the programme?
It’s a big glossy costume drama, perfect for viewing on a Sunday night, but not really for all the family. Some of it is a bit grotesque for children. I remember one grim day’s shooting when we had to bury a baby at sea and in the afternoon I had to preside over a lashing. That wasn’t fun. Obviously it wasn’t a real baby, but we were still chucking baby-sized things into the water.


Was this your first time filming in Australia?
It was the first time I’d been to Australia full stop. It was a wonderful place, I just wish I hadn’t been wearing so many clothes. I lost a lot of weight wearing those costumes and it was so hot my brain felt like scrambled eggs. We shot there for 14 days, but it was more strenuous for Romola Garai than it was for me. She was filming non-stop but I had a few days off.