Anthony Andrews loves the way the new series of The Syndicate explores how wealth shifts from the rich to the working class characters.
The screen legend stars in the new series of the Kay Mellor-written BBC drama, which sees the staff of Hazelwood Manor scoop £14.5 on the lottery – while their aristocratic owners are £6.5 million in debt!
Anthony told whatsontv.co.uk: "The clever conceit in this one is that it's the Upstairs Downstairs principle flipped, so upstairs is very broke indeed – on their uppers – trying to find a way of running life and running an enormous stately home, while downstairs wins big. It's an interesting dynamic."
Revealing more about his character of Lord Hazelwood, Anthony – who stars alongside comic Lenny Henry and Coronation Street star Melanie Hill in the drama – said:
“He's the kind of person who feels responsible for them and also appreciates what they do and how difficult it is to run one of these places. You can only do it with an incredible team – and I think he's the kind of person who appreciates his team."
As The Syndicate continues on Tuesday, will Lord Hazelwood's lottery-winning staff show their appreciation for him?
"Yes, they do," he said. "Hope I'm not giving away too much!"
Anthony also had a clear idea of what he would do with a major lottery win. "I think I'd do up a wreck, somewhere,” he said. "That would be my passion. It's something I've always been keen on and the difficulty about that always is always finance. Even if you're talking about the smallest wreck, it's always a big drain [on money]."
The Syndicate continues on Tuesdays at 9pm on BBC1.
