He helped expose the Horizon IT scandal playing former subpostmaster Lee Castleton in Mr Bates Vs The Post Office – and next Will Mellor is on a mission to find aliens.
In his upcoming Will & Ralph Should Know Better show – airing later this year on U and U&Dave – Will and pal Ralph Little investigate how they can do life better in their forties. But they can’t agree on the existence of little green men, who Will believes are in our oceans not in outer space.
Will says: “I’d love to see a spaceship. People go, ‘I’d be terrified’ but I’d love it.
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“We mention it on the show as Ralph’s a non-believer in anything not physical – he’s a science man. I don’t want to see an alien that’s an amoeba – that’s f***ing boring.
“I want something with a massive head and big eyes, not an amoeba under a microscope. We’re looking in the wrong place, under the sea, that’s where they all live.
“We only know 10% of the ocean, what’s in the other 90%? There’s a lot.
“I watch some David Attenborough programmes and that’s where your answer is, under the water. The good thing about the show with Ralph is that it’s a travel show with a difference – we can do anything and go anywhere.”
(Image: Jonathan Browning)
The mates, who met on cult BBC noughties hit Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, look at ageing in an episode and end up on stage with the Dreamboys.
Will laughs: “We strip off – and the worst thing I did was invite the wife. I didn’t know they stripped, and these were big boys!”
The 48-year-old also peels off in his next drama role, The Teacher II, starting on Monday (September 9) on Channel 5, alongside Kara Tointon.
Will says: “There’s lots of twists and turns. I had to warn my mum I have a raunchy sex scene.
“They have an intimacy coordinator on set to make everyone comfortable – and she brought mints and chewing gum. Sex scenes are never sexy but we wanted to make this more passionate than usual.
“I only met Kara for the first time then we were naked.”
Next week Will is also in the running for a National Television Award with Mr Bates up for Best New Drama after telling how hundreds of sub postmasters were wrongly prosecuted due to a dodgy computer system.
Will says: “I didn’t understand how big this was until I was on set with Toby Jones. After filming we were going, ‘Can you believe they did this to these people?’.
“The fact I was playing a real person was even more daunting and comes with challenges to go, ‘You’ve got to get this right’. I’m really proud and grateful to be asked to do it.”
Will has teamed up with Gas Safe Register to support Gas Safety Week voicing a public service announcement video showing the impact on what happens ‘when the gas goes’ at home.
In a recent survey, Gas Safe Register – the UK’s official registration body for gas engineers and businesses – found 37% of UK homeowners rated a boiler breakdown in their Top 3 inconveniences in life.
(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)
Will says: “You take your boiler for granted until it goes wrong. It’s one thing if you don’t have a shower but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“I’m one of those people who puts things off and used to hide bills in a drawer. I like a winter break and we came back once and the heating wouldn’t turn on, it was nighttime and you realise how much you need your gas.”
Gas Safety Week takes place between September 9–15. To find a local Gas Safe registered engineer in your area and for further gas safety tips, visit http://GasSafeRegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
