What do we know about Utopia series 2?

Earlier this year, Channel Four thrillerUtopiasplashed acid yellow over a particularly grey January.

What I liked about the idea was that there was a conspiracy hidden in a graphic novel.

I didnt like what the conspiracy was.

I feel like what I need to do is care about my characters.

I think the only real sin in writing is despising your characters.

If you despise your characters, youre despising people.

You said that you dont believe in conspiracy theories, so what made you zone in on this?

Its hard to say Idontbelieve in conspiracy theories.

I dont believe in the majority of them.

Theres been a rise in conspiracy theories in the last thirty years.

I couldnt get my head round it at all and it just seemed too ridiculous.

There has been this massive rise in conspiracy theories though.

Theres this weird thing with reality and fiction where theyre sort of blending in strange ways.

Phosphates are not going to last, were not going to be able to feed this amount of people.

I dont have an answer to that.

Your writing doesnt ever flinch does it?

I feel really connected to writing.

In so many ways, its saved me.

So I get very angry when people arent brave with it.

It doesnt feel good.

Ill find something else, Ill write something else and no-one will say What a dick.

You do end up with a bunch of people on your shoulder.

The only thing your story has is you, and it deserves your full attention.

Did Channel Four ever ask you to tone Utopia down or take things out?

There wasnt one thing that they balked at.

I kept thinking with the eye-torturing, someones going to say soften this and they just didnt.

There were things that we softened.

When it aired, nothing much happened.

They were nervous, but at no point did they talk about compromise.

I was amazed actually, they were incredible.

They had complete faith in you?

In everyone that was doing it I suppose, in the project.

I was really lucky I think.

How do you feel when you see what youve written performed for the first time?

Sometimes you see it and you think, you arseholes, you totally got that wrong!

What you want is to be pleasantly surprised.

The Jessica Hyde I wrote was a little bit more in control.

She brought so much more to it.

Your job as a writer is to inspire talented people to take it further.

Theres going to be a second series ofUtopiaisnt there?

Its currently being written.

Its being filmed in two months [speaking on the 22ndof August].

Ive got two months before the first block.

Hes come back and hes going to do the first block again.

He has a much more involved role in the whole series, which is great.

Can you give us any ideas about what series two might contain?

and Ive got no idea what the reactions going to be.

Some of the characters are coming back, youll definitely see Arby again, and Jessica.

Theres a lot of people dead unfortunately and a lot of people will die [laughs].

Do you have a finite end forUtopiain mind?

I think I do, I think so, yeah.

Not necessarily a good one.

Dennis Kelly, thank you very much!