The Hack producers explain all of those surprise celebrity cameos in Mr Apollo introduction
Viewers enjoyed a quirky introduction to the mystery source of journalist Nick Davies (David Tennant).
Factual drama The Hack premiered tonight and boasted star power beyond its big-name leads, with a parade of celebrity cameos teasing the identity of the mysterious Mr Apollo (ultimately portrayed by Adrian Lester).
The pseudonymous figure was a high-profile contact of investigative journalist Nick Davies (David Tennant), who proved integral to setting him on the path to breaking the phone-hacking scandal.
To this day, Davies has never revealed the true identity of his source, referring to them only by the codename Mr Apollo, inspiring The Hack producers to enlist some well-known celebrities for the character's tongue-in-cheek introduction.
Nick attends a covert meeting with Mr Apollo at a swanky London address, informing viewers in a 'fourth wall' break that "some guesses have been made" as to who they might really be.
What follows is a comical sequence in which Tennant's reporter opens the door to a series of TV personalities, debunking each one in turn before Adrian Lester's portrayal of Apollo finally appears at the end.
Participants of the skit are comedian Harry Hill (dubbed a "bad guess"), TV presenter Konnie Huq, sports journalist Gabby Logan and chat show host Jonathan Ross.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com at the launch of The Hack, producers Joe Williams and Patrick Spence shared how they arranged those rapid fire cameos for the series premiere.
"I remember it was a few weeks before we started filming it, and the brief from Lewis [Arnold, director] was 'find me four celebrities' – and that was it," began Williams.
"And so we went about digging and researched to see who might be allies of the drama, and called in a few personal favours here and there – and thankfully, we couldn't have been luckier to get those four. They were terrific."
Spence continued: "I hope it looks like they were up for a laugh, and they were, but also, I hope it shows in the depth of casting we've got across the piece that everyone wanted to be a part of bringing this story into the light.
"Whether that was to do a brief comedy cameo or to play [a major role], everyone has played their part."
He concluded: "I think you'll find that Jonathan Ross and all of the others jumped at the chance to be part of saying, 'something wrong happened here, and this is our way of contributing to that conversation'."
Of course, those aren't the only familiar faces that viewers can expect to see over the course of The Hack's seven episodes.
Robert Carlyle, Toby Jones, Katherine Kelly and Eve Myles join Tennant in the main cast, while the supporting line-up includes Steve Pemberton as Rupert Murdoch and Dougray Scott as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
On those castings, Williams said that Scott "fit the bill" perfectly and that Pemberton differentiates himself from past "screen Murdochs" by being younger than the real man was at the time, "but comfortable with being in the make-up chair".
No doubt that's what nine seasons of Inside No. 9 will do for you!
The Hack is available to stream on ITVX. New episodes air Wednesdays on ITV1.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
