'Echo Beach' star grateful for axing

Former Echo Beach star Christian Cooke has admitted that the soap's failure was a blessing in disguise for his career.

The 22-year-old actor, who played Brae Marrack on the ITV1 show last year, revealed that he is much more satisfied with his current role as Luke Rutherford in supernatural drama Demons.

"Things are going great now and the attention is unbelievable," Cooke told the Daily Star. "I'm glad I'm not doing Echo Beach any more because it was s**t!

"I shouldn't really say that because you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you. But it was a bold move for them and I had so much fun doing it."

Echo Beach was axed following disappointing ratings in 2008, but its sister show Moving Wallpaper is returning with a new theme later this year.


With high hopes and off the back of a major marketing campaign, ITV launches its latest attempt at genre TV this weekend. A supernatural action drama, Demons certainly seems to have all the right ingredients for success: a handsome young lead, a host of terrifying adversaries and a mythology rooted in the familiar tale of Dracula. There's also an impressive supporting cast, including a vampiric Mackenzie Crook, veteran actor Richard Wilson (still sporting his Merlin wig) - and Gene Hunt talking with an American accent. We caught up with Christian Cooke, who plays young hero Luke, to find out more about the murky world of Demons.

How would you describe Demons?
"It's a high-concept supernatural show about a young guy called Luke Rutherford, who discovers he's last in the line of the Van Helsings. He has to accept his new-found destiny and get accustomed to a dark new world."

How does he find out that he's a Van Helsing?
"His godfather Rupert Galvin (Phil Glenister) turns up early on in the first episode and basically tells him that he was a Van Helsing. Then various weird things start happening to him - he encounters some demons first hand - and that, together with what Rupert's telling him, makes him realise who he is."

How does he react to the news that his destiny is to smite demons?
"Of course in real life, you'd probably go 'what the *******'s going on? I'm out of here!' but this is TV. I guess he is quite cool about the situation because he's forced into it. It all happens so fast, so he doesn't really get the chance to contemplate what's happening or if it's what he really wants."

What sort of creatures does Luke encounter over the course of the series?
"The creatures are graded from 0 to 15 according to how evil and dangerous they are. I think the most dangerous baddie is probably Gladiolus Thrip (Mackenzie Crook), who's a type 12 vampire. He appears in the first episode and has a serious grudge against the Van Helsings and everything they stand for. There's also Mr Tibbs (Kevin McNally), a type 11 half-man half-rat who appears in episode three. Him and Galvin have a bitter history."

Did you do many stunts while filming the show?
"Yes, I had three weeks of fight training before the series began. I learnt a blend of different martial arts - not in great depth, obviously - but various moves such as kicks, blocks and punches. It was all quite fun. All the fight scenes you see, that's me doing it!"

You filmed in a lot of great London locations, such as on the South Bank in episode one. Did you have to do that in the dead of night?
"Yeah, those night scenes were hard. I think we did four weeks of 11pm-11am and 12am-12pm at locations like that all over central London and East London. They also got hold of some great underground places, like a disused Victorian prison for episode four. It's important because it's a vampire type show, and night time is very important for the overall mood and theme of the show."

Was it weird hearing Phil Glenister talking in an American accent?
"Not really, just because I think he did it so well. He really pulled it off. For the audience, maybe it will be weird. I think a lot of people associate him with Gene Hunt and that broad, Mancunian accent, but by the end of the first episode I think they should have hopefully completely accepted it."

You spend a lot of the early part of ep one wandering around topless. Do you mind getting your kit off?
"I don't mind doing it. To be honest it's only for about three or four scenes. I just finished filming [new ITV2 teen drama] Trinity and I had to do an awful lot more there in terms of being naked and stuff. I'm used to it now!"

What sort of reaction have you had from people who have seen the show already?
"Overall it's been quite positive so far. There's nothing like this on British TV at the moment. It's unique and fresh - a totally different concept!"