‘Time Bandits’ Boss Talks Introduci...

To a generation of Brits, Iain Morris may forever be known as half of the duo that created “The Inbetweeners,” the wildly rude sitcom about a group of mostly unpopular teenage boys that ran from 2008-2010 and was followed by two hugely successful films

Published Time: 25.07.2024 - 01:31:34 Modified Time: 25.07.2024 - 01:31:34

To a generation of Brits, Iain Morris may forever be known as half of the duo that created “The Inbetweeners,” the wildly rude sitcom about a group of mostly unpopular teenage boys that ran from 2008-2010 and was followed by two hugely successful films.

But the multi-talented creative has been prolifically busy since then, reuniting some of the “The Inbetweeners” lead cast for BBC comedy series “White Gold,” creating another BBC comedy “First Team,” working on FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows,” helping write Taika Waititi’s soccer comedy “Next Goal Wins” and recently being tapped to direct Netflix rom-com feature “My Oxford Year.”

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For the last few years, he’s also been hard at work on “Time Bandits,” Apple TV+‘s small-screen reimagining of Terry Gilliam’s cult 1981 fantasy comedy about a young boy taken on an adventure through time with a band of thieves (mostly played by actors with dwarfism). The original featured an all-star cast including Sean Connery (who famously agreed to appear after meeting producer Denis O’Brien on a golf course), plus Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Peter Vaughan and Gilliam’s “Monty Python” collaborators John Cleese and Michael Palin. It ended up becoming one of the biggest hits for ex-Beatle George Harrison’s HandMade Films, opening at No. 1 in the U.S. and making more than $40 million off a budget of $5 million.

The TV series —which Morris co-wrote alongside Waititi and Jemaine Clement, and also served as showrunner with Clement —comes from Paramount TV, and features a cast led by Lisa Kudrow. While most of the original feature was shot in the U.K., much of the new “Time Bandits” was filmed around Wellington, New Zealand (a city so windy Morris says “he genuinely thought the house was going to blow away”).

Speaking to Variety ahead of the show’s launch on Wednesday, Morris discusses being able to delve into more history than in the film, why — despite rumors to the contrary — Gilliam was never on set (or even in New Zealand) and what’s coming up next for Fudge Park, the production company he set up with his “Inbetweeners” co-creator Damon Beesley. Morris also addresses the accusations made by Charlyne Yi, who alleged they were physically assaulted on the set of “Time Bandits” by a fellow actor.

How did you get involved in a show like “Time Bandits”?

Taika and Jemaine called me up years ago, I think before COVID, and said they needed to get a pilot script written — and did I want to do it with them? I’ve worked with them both over the years, and have loved it – I’m a fan of both of theirs.

But I also realized that it’s possibly because I’m a bit boring about history. We’ve been friends for 20 years at least now, and I think I’ve just been boring them about history so much that they thought, “Who’s someone that we can work with who knows a little bit about history? Well, Iain’s always boring on about it.”

Were you a fan of the original film?

I was too young to watch it when it came out. But I was such a “Monty Python” fan in my teens that I became a Python completist —what else can I watch that’s got John Cleese in it, that’s got Michael Palin in it, that’s made by Terry Gilliam? So I watched it a few times as a kid. It was terrifying, obviously.

How close is the new series to the original?

It’s sort of inspired by it. But there are lots of similarities, this set up with Kevin and the map and the portal and the gang of idiotic thieves. That’s very similar, but I think we go a bit deeper into the characters of the bands. And we go to more different places.

But no dwarves in it this time.

There are some little people in. But it’s a reimagining of the film. It’s a very diverse cast in lots of ways. We spent a lot of time thinking about that, and we thought about diversity and moving forward. And it’s something that we played with, hopefully successfully, throughout the story.

So not having a band of dwarves — played by actors with dwarfism —wasn’t to avoid any potential offense? 2024 is obviously a very different time to 1981.

No. But we cast all sorts of people, from people who were incredibly tall to people who were very short.

You’ve got more time to play with than the film. So do you pack in more historical figures than Napoleon and Agamemnon?

Yeah. We see Mansa Musa, we go to 1920s Harlem, we go to the time of the Neanderthals. The Earl of Sandwich makes an appearance.

There’s that great scene in the film where Agamemnon’s mask is lifted off, and it’s revealed to be Sean Connery playing him. Any surprise star roles in this?

Well, we have Mark Gatiss playing the Earl of Sandwich, which was an unbeliev -

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able treat. I couldn’t be a bigger fan of his, so spending time with him in New Zealand was just wonderful. But we’ve got a few celebrity sightings throughout the series. Lisa Kudrow obviously leads the cast.

Were any of the team behind the original involved? Any word from Terry Gilliam?

No, but I think HandMade Films were given cuts, and gave notes — but were very hands off. I’m actually friendly with Michael Palin. Well, his son is a very close friend of mine, and through my friend he would say, “Good luck with it all.” And I did see a story saying that Gilliam was on set. But he wasn’t, and I would have known. Because even my mum wasn’t allowed on set. Wellington is such a small town that people were telling me about seeing my mum, so there’s no way that Terry Gilliam could have turned up without anyone noticing!

I have to ask about the accusations from Charlyne Yi, who left the shoot and alleged they were physically assaulted by a fellow cast member. Were you aware about this at the time, and what was your reaction?

At the time, it was obviously incredibly upsetting for everybody involved. It was a very tight cast and crew, and so every single step was taken at the right time, involving the right people — the heads of HR at Paramount, who did a full investigation. Everyone was notified. The whole process was followed as correctly as it possibly could be and investigated as possibly as it could be. And they basically came to the conclusions that they came to.

As one of the co-showrunnners, did you speak to Charlyne about the situation?

Yeah. They made me aware of what was happening, and part of my job was to make sure that everybody was safe. And so part of that was saying, let’s do the most thorough investigation we can and talk it through and make sure that it all’s done properly. I found the whole process incredibly sad. But I’ve got no doubt that it was all followed to the letter, and everything was taken very seriously right from the start and that the investigation done by Paramount was done in the best way possible.

But they’re still in the finished series?

Yeah, absolutely. They gave a great performance, and it was a very difficult time. But it was a short time, and we did have great fun.

“Time Bandits” is one of a few projects I’ve seen recently that are either sequels to or reimaginings of cult films made decades ago. The original “Time Bandits” came out in 1982. Is this due to a dearth of new ideas or the rediscovery of beloved old stories to breathe new life into?

Ha, well I wonder which one I’ll go for! Let me think. But I would say it’s a reimagining of new ideas to reintroduce them to new audiences. I think “Time Bandits” is actually almost the lost classic. You mention it to a lot of people and they’ve never heard of it, but you meet other people and it’s their favorite film. But they are quite rare. So if you’re bringing these brilliant ideas that people have and these brilliant worlds, and expanding and changing and introducing them to a new audience, I think it’s great. Some of the best songs ever made are cover versions.

“Time Bandits” wasn’t made as part of Fudge Park, the production company set up with your fellow “The Inbetweeners” creator Damon Beesley. How’s that coming along?

Yeah, it’s going great. Damon just shot a fantastic sitcom for the BBC called “Daddy Issues,” with David Morrissey and Aimee Lou Wood, and that’s coming out, I think, in August. So we’re hugely excited about that. And we’re developing lots of other stuff. Damon and I are working on a couple of scripts together, and we’re looking to hopefully do some more films. We had quite a glorious six-year period of making British comedy films, so thought, “Why aren’t we making more?”

I see you’re also set to direct the Netflix comedy “My Oxford Year.”

Yeah, that’s what I’m in pre-production on now. We start shooting in three weeks. But that’s with Temple Hill. And it’s me edging toward a more dramatic, more rom-com direction than straight-up com. It’s been quite interesting trying to wrap my head around certain parts of it. It’s definitely using different parts of my brain than just jokes.

I’m sure this gets asked all the time, but given the fondess for returning to beloved old material, can you ever see “The Inbetweeners” getting a reboot, or maybe even a grand return catching up with the boys as they approach middle age?

I’m waiting for someone to take it off my hands like “Time Bandits.” And then someone can say Iain Morris came to the set… in Guatemala.

This interview has been edited and condensed.