BBC Three’s comedy smash Pramface returns for a third series at the end of this month, and we could not be more excited! To celebrate this joyous occasion, we had a chat with Sean Michael Verey aka Jamie to talk about the new series, working with babies and just where he sees his character going in the future…
At the end of series two, we saw Jamie and Laura (Scarlett Alice Johnson) FINALLY making it official as boyfriend and girlfriend! Where do we see the pair as we head into series three?
I think series three is more about Jamie and Laura. The first series was more initially about the pregnancy, the second was about the baby and now the third series has sort of calmed down in that respect, everybody’s come to terms about the baby and it is more about Laura and Jamie. I think it’s very up and down between them both; it keeps you guessing right to the end. But there’s a lot of things that happen, like Laura and Jamie decide to start looking at a place to live together and there’s twists and turns when they are looking for a place – a will they won’t they type thing, plus things and people get in the way – I don’t want to give away too much but it’s pretty much always up and down between them both.
Is Jamie still the loveable idiot we have got to know over the last few years?
(Laughs) I think there’s an element of that. But I do think on a whole he has grown up a lot actually. I think he’s had to, obviously with the baby and all of a sudden he is in this relationship with Laura – he is growing up now you know? And he is in the working world. But there are still elements where he gets caught out (laughs) and becomes that loveable idiot once again.
And how does Jamie and Laura’s friendship hold up now they’re together? Will we be seeing more of Beth (Yasmin Paige), Mike (Dylan Edwards) and Danielle (Emer Kenny)?
This series seems to be written in a way where Jamie and Laura are kind of left to it more without the others poking their nose in it, as they’ve got their own problems with people coming into their lives, so everybody’s got their own problems now it’s not just about Laura and Jamie. So I think there’s more distance between them all storyline wise.
Pramface is three series in – you must be a pro working with babies now?
I honestly lose track of how many babies we actually use on the day but we’ve usually got four there, depending on how long the day is. We need many just in case one decides to cry, or when one is needed to cry for a scene and so forth. But I’ve actually really enjoyed it, it’s become second nature now! It’s sort of like “Oh which one is this now?” and you get to know their parents because they’re there on the day. It’s just this one big circle of babies…and by the end of the shoot you get to know their little personalities and you know which one is which…and yeah, it’s quite nice. It’s actually really nice.
Pramface has become such a staple in the BBC3 comedy line up, how has the reaction been for you?
Oh it’s done brilliantly well! I’m on Twitter (@sean_m_verey) and the feedback I get from fans of the show is overwhelming at times, especially when the programme is on and the show is airing for the first time. I’m still getting tweets now because it’s being repeated at three o’clock in the morning (laughs) and people still tweet me saying “I’ve stayed up to watch Pramface back to back, I couldn’t help myself” and “It’s the sixth time I’ve watched it” and all that stuff, so the feedback has been brilliant. We just hope that this series it can get even bigger. It’s always quite hard to start out with a new series, especially a new comedy I find, and that did well. The second series got bigger and we’re hoping it’ll follow that trait, we want it to keep progressing publicity wise and viewing figures. I think, personally, this series is the funniest…it’s really stepped up this series, it’s more laugh a minute kind of stuff.
Pramface has also made its way overseas airing on Hulu – have the Americans reacted well too?
Yeah they have actually! They seem to really enjoy it…I haven’t had a bad comment from anyone on Hulu. Again, I get most of my feedback on Twitter because I tweet quite a lot and I’ve got a nice little following on Twitter now and a lot of them have been from America saying they’ve just watched Pramface on Hulu, “When’s the next season gonna come out” “It’s so unfair that you guys get it first before we do” and all this kind of stuff. It’s been really really good feedback from overseas!
There are some absolutely hilarious scenes in episode one, how do you get through a take with a straight face?
I rarely do! I mean the take that we use is probably the only one out of three takes where no one is actually laughing. I recently got sent the gag reel for clearance to use on DVD and just watching it back, there was a lot from the caravan actually! It’s very hard but a lot of fun. It does get to the point where sometimes you think “Oh my God we’re not gonna get this! This will never not be funny” especially when you are working with people like Ben Crompton who is probably the funniest guy I’ve ever met and Bronagh (Gallagher) just encourages him, which makes it even worse. He tries to stitch you up in scenes and he’ll try to make you laugh…yeah it’s very hard to answer your question (laughs) but we manage to do it somehow!
Lastly – if you were a writer on Pramface, where would you like to see Jamie go in the future?
Oh wow, that’s a good question! (Thinks about it) Well…I mean…there’s quite a lot of twists and turns that happen but I would eventually like him to end up with nothing really massive happening but just him being settled and just him and Laura working it out with the baby and getting a nice job and by the time the whole thing has wrapped him thinking “Huh, I did alright, I did well!”
PRAMFACE series three returns to BBC Three Tuesday 25th February at 10pm. For more information, visit the BBC Three website
