It's a cold but sunny day in February when What To Watch arrives at a secret location in Bath, Somerset. We've been given unprecedented access behind the scenes of espionage thriller, Alex Rider season 3.
Alex Rider season two - based on the best-selling novels by Anthony Horowitz - ended on a tense cliffhanger with assassin-turned-ally Yassen Gregorovitch urging Alex to: ‘Find the widow, find Scorpia’.
As this third series lands on Amazon Freevee, Alex travels to Malta on the trail of the aforementioned elusive criminal network and arguably his greatest enemy yet.
Brenock O'Connor is back as Alex's best friend Tom, Marli Siu, as computer whizz Kyra and Trigger Point’s Vicky McClure as Mrs Jones, Alex's handler from the Department of Special Operations.
During a break in filming, Alex Rider himself - Otto Farrant - comes to chat with us about what's in store this time around...
First things first: Who or what is Scorpia?
"We heard murmurings of Scorpia throughout seasons one and two, but now Alex is going to search out how Scorpia is linked to everything that’s happened previously."
What makes this a personal journey for Alex?
"Alex, Tom and Kyra are more free from the Department this time round, so they're going out on their own to find out the truth. We uncover how the events in his life led to Alex being enlisted by the Department, his connection to Yassen and to the spy world in general. Alex has such a rich history as a character and it’s been interesting delving into that."
Unbeknownst to Alex, Scorpia is now headed up by wealthy widow, Julia Rothman (The Bridge’s Sofia Helin), aided by Scorpia associate Max Grendel (Unforgotten’s Kevin McNally), with assassin Nile (Silent Witness’s Jason Wong) required to keep Alex in his place...
"I love all the physical stuff. Every fight I have to learn is like a dance. You have to go into this slight zen mode where you’re so focused on when the next hit is going to be in the choreography. I feel like I've been fighting a lot more in this series!"
The Alex Rider novels have sold more than 19 million copies worldwide - you must have high hopes for season three of the TV series?
"We had a guy turn up to set a few days ago with his camera and it was quite astonishing to see someone so in love with the show, who wasn't a diehard fan of the books beforehand. It shows we've really achieved something in that the show's reached a wider audience. I'm really proud of that."
Alex Rider season 3 is available now on Amazon Freevee.
