Joe Hawkins never meant for any of this to happen.
the poor guy just thought hed be getting the equivalent of a new Dyson.
Joe also wasnt to know that his wifes Synth-rights legal work would make her a target for abuse.
Then along comes this world-changing international AI plot and its fair to say that he doesnt handle itbrilliantly?
No, no, hes not really built for it [laughs].
Hes unwittingly opened a can of worms that hes totally unprepared for.
Buying Anita in the first place.
Ultimately, it did the opposite and drove them further apart.
That wasnt the only rash, unthinking decision Joe has ever made though is it?
He did sleep with her too!
But thats a bottle of wine and a completely misplaced sense of curiosity talking [laughs].
Also, Joe called the authorities on Leo and Max in series one, bringing Hobb down on them.
In his version of things and worldview, he just thought they were endangering the family and the kids.
Its completely narrow-minded of course!
Hes trying to do what he thinks is the safest thing for his kids.
Of course, it massively backfires because Laura is quite happy for him to go and do that.
Shes just not interested in coming anything like halfway to meet him on it.
Yeah, shes kind of moved on, but he hasnt.
Hes still in love with her.
Theyre not an obvious match, are they?
Shes out there, changing international law, and Joes not quite at her level.
Is that hard for him?
Hes always supported Laura.
He just mourns the fact that in doing so that takes her away from him.
He loves her, but hes not her intellectual equal and thats tough for him to live with.
He finds that hard and he kind of hates himself for it a bit.
Neil absolutely infuriates Joe because he represents everything that Joe isnt.
Well Im glad they find it funny!
[Laughing] Its not funny for Joe!
Its horrible for Joe.
Its his whole life falling apart in front of his eyes.
Well thats always funny for viewers.
Of course, of course.
Very funny for the audience, but hell for Joe.
Everything he holds dear is falling apart in front of his eyes.
Its just the [laughs] two of them in the same room basically!
We had a lot of fun.
It was hugely enjoyable filming those scenes.
[Huge laugh]
If you think of the world as it is now, thats Waltringham.
Its specificallythisparallel present in 2018, post-Brexit referendum.
Lauras very disparaging about Waltringham.
It raised a big laugh at the screening.
Is the show inviting us to laugh at Joes retrograde decision or empathise with it?
Its a story that we hope resonates widely across shifting political landscapes.
That laugh comes out of that, really.
Its the acceptable face of a terrifyingly bigoted world view.
Joe doesnt really realise when he moves there what the implications of a move to somewhere like Waltringham are.
As ever with Joe, he learns after the fact.
We do find out that Waltringham isnt necessarily somewhere you would ever consider safe, its just absolutely not.
Joes learning process is long and slow and painful, as always!
Thats absolutely right, yeah.
It made sense to make that a catalyst for some larger arguments to be had.
Its always been a very British-feeling show,Humans, its not blandly transatlantic.
But you do have an American audience on AMC.
Do you think the Brexit allegories will resonate in the US?
Is [We Are People leader] Claudia Nowak trying to make people great again?
I dont doubt that they will see parallels.
Thats part of the idea.
Whats Joes involvement with them in series three?
He doesnt consider them to be anythingbutdangerous and thats not going to change.
Thats part of the reason that Joe following through on that decision is so important.
Is that the choice he faces?
It makes him sit up and realise the consequences of his actions.
Series three then, is whereHumans domestic, intimate focus explodes and its all big p politics and war?
Jon and Sam gave each series its own particular arc.
In that respect it gets broader and broader for each series.
God knowswhat theyre thinking of for series four!
Theres a thread in series three about rebellion isnt there, and the most effective ways to rebel?
Joe, in his own way, is rebelling just by going to Waltringham.
Thats his own form of rebellion.
Its rebellion against progress.
She continues to do that in series three and it moves her further and further away from Joe.
Shes inherited Lauras inheritance and Joes stubbornness and is using them both to the best of her ability.
Its all starting to sound quite tragic for Joe in series three?
In series two, there was a thread about Joes redundancy having been engineered behind the scenes by Synths?
Is that something thats picked up again this year?
Its interesting, because I think a lot of people picked up on that and went oh!
Were going to see Synth overlords!
but it was always intended to be incidental.
There was nothing to stop those AI bots from making informed decisions on employment at that company.
The writers just wanted to show that that would happen.
Theres no great conspiracy.
That was just one of those instances where Joe realises that hes not in control of his own destiny.
I watched all ofBattlestarand loved it.
I watched all ofWestworldseason one and thoroughly enjoyed it.
That annoys me slightly.
I always want the shows creator to know what theyre doing and the forums to be secondary to that.
The tail wagging the dog.
I argued that it could work and had it flung back in my face.
Apparently at least one of them ought to be a redhead!
Well there you go!
Im glad you said that because I didnt think I was entirely wrong about that!
I did remember getting into a discussion about that and being sure I was right.
Im glad to hear you say that.
It is a twenty-five per cent chance, Ill remember that.
Would you say thatHumansis essentially urging its audience to do that?
Dont be so sure!
We dont need actors we can just have computer-generated versions and actors will just provide voiceovers.
But I think that seems to have been fairly roundly rejected.
I think people still want to see other people playing other people [laughs] with other people!
God, I hope not anyway.
Thats going to be a difficult future to live in.
I dont know what Id do.
I could move to Hitchin and open a greengrocers!
Tom Goodman-Hill, thank you very much!
Humans series 3 starts on Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursday the 17thof May.
