Baptiste boss reveals they rewrote the series 2 script four times due to COVID: 'There were endless problems coming our way'
Production on the BBC One drama's second series faced a six-month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Producers on Baptiste's second series have revealed that shooting the BBC One drama last year was "the most logistically challenging thing" they've done, with the team having to rewrite the scripts four times to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic.
The series, which returns to BBC One on Sunday and stars Tchéky Karyo as the titular detective, was forced to shut down production in Hungary back in March 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide, before continuing filming six months later in the UK.
Executive producer Chris Aird told RadioTimes.com and other press outlets during a set visit in November that the show's bosses were constantly amending the script during the pandemic-related hiatus.
"We spent four months talking every single day, two or three times a day, trying to work out everything. Planning, re-planning, re-planning. [Producer John Griffin] and I spoke at least twice a day. Obviously, we didn't see each other for months and months."
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Griffin added: "We rewrote the scripts four times to deal with COVID, to deal with an actress who's had a baby in November, who's Hungarian but can't come here.
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"There was just endless Rubik Cube problems that kept coming our way but I would sit for days with the script editor on a FaceTime link going through the scripts and then [writers] Jack and Harry [Williams] would re-write them and then we'd go, 'Oh there's something else now!'"
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"It was the most logistically challenging thing I've ever done in my life," Aird said. "Film production is complicated at the best of times and it was like having an 1000-piece jigsaw and then painting it black."
Baptiste returns with a brand new series on Sunday, with Fiona Shaw joining the Baptiste cast as a British Ambassador whose family goes missing whilst on holiday in Hungary.
While you’re waiting for Baptiste season 2, take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage or check out our TV Guide to find out what’s on television this week.
