Former Minder actor Gary Webster based his character Mike Craggs in new British horror film Harbinger on the cringey personalities of Good Morning Britain hosts Richard Madeley and Ed Balls.
Gary Webster based his character in new horror movie Harbinger on cringe-inducing Good Morning Britain hosts Richard Madeley and Ed Balls.
In the British film, the former Minder and EastEnders actor plays Mike Craggs, a fading TV star who convinces serial killer survivor Julia – played by Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott – to go back to the house where her partner, Satan-worshipping Henry Decker, tried to murder her five years earlier.
Craggs hopes the show will revive his ailing career, only for him, Julia and the crew to discover The Harbinger, a sinister, fairground-style fortune-telling machine which Decker has been able to transfer his soul into. The team become trapped as The Harbinger predicts the grisly fates of the crew one by one.
Webster drew on the “self-serving” presenting style of both Madeley and Balls on the ITV morning news and current affairs show.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he said: “I feel he’s a bit of a combination between Richard Madeley and Ed Balls. There’s that desperate need to be kind of trendy and to obviously self-promote, whilst at the same time asking awkward questions and mainly just self-serving their own careers or whatever. If I could dare say that.
“They’re not as bad as Mike Craggs, but Mike has come up with this idea. His career’s on the wane and sees this fantastic opportunity and, in the end, he doesn’t really care what damage or harm he does to others. He just wants to get that definitive television show to get back on top, that’s his drive all the way through, which is great fun to play.
“You do meet people that kind of imply that they’re looking after your best interests, but really they’re looking after their own best interests. Not to say that either Richard Madeley or Ed Balls are anything like that, but it was that kind of feel, you know, the older presenter who’s trying to use the trendiest subject around ghost hunting to get his career back on track.
“He only really ever gets scared when he realises that his own life might be in trouble. That’s when he’s not brave at all, especially as he’s made out that he’s the man in control.”
Webster – who played Arthur Daley’s nephew Ray Daley in Minder, replacing Dennis Waterman, who starred as bodyguard Terry McCann, alongside George Cole as wheeler-dealer Arthur – was excited to be offered the part of Mike as he usually only plays “villains or coppers” and this part was more nuanced.
He added: “I did one other film for Shogun, a sort of smaller role in Doctor Plague, and I enjoyed the experience just so much.
“We had so much fun and it was great to be a part of the team, so when they came to me and said, ‘Look, we’ve got this other role coming up…’ It barely took me a read. I just said, ‘Yeah, I’m in.’ You know, when you get a good vibe on the set and you feel that you can trust the people you’re working with in this day and age it’s really important. So I was kind of already on board before I read it. And then when I read it, I was completely on board because it’s quite a different character for me to play. I usually play either villains or coppers, so to play not such a likeable character as Mike Craggs was a real pleasure. I relished having a go at it. As I say it was quite different. I don’t do many horrors but all the things aligned and it was great.”
Webster’s next project is All Hail Harry Lauder, a film that he has written which tells the story of the most disastrous opening night in theatrical history, Peter O’Toole’s version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Old Vic in 1980.
He revealed: “I am working on a project myself that I’m very loath to say anything about, but it’s progressing very well and we should be making announcements as to who is in it and when we are going to film.
“I’m not going to be in that. I’ve written it and I’m co-producing it.
“It’s set in 1980, regarding Peter O’Toole’s return to the Old Vic to play Macbeth.”
Harbinger also stars Tony Sands, Johnny Palmiero, Nick Nevern and Doctor Who legend Carole Ann Ford and is available to rent or buy from Prime Video and Apple TV now.
How was Gary Webster inspired by Good Morning Britain hosts Richard Madeley and Ed Balls for new horror Harbinger?
