DOMINO DAY
SFX JOINS THE COVEN ON SET FOR NEW SUPERNATUR AL DRAMA
ARARE SUNNY DAY IN Manchester, and SFX is on set for new BBC YA drama Domino Day. Even the cast admit they’re surprised by the weather, revealing that they’ve never seen anything quite like Manchester rain before. Welcome to the north, ladies and gentlemen. Not that they see much of the light anyway, as Domino Day is a celebration of creatures of the night: witches.
The six-part series follows a powerful young witch named Domino (Siena Kelly) as she’s haunted by an increasing need to feed off the energy of others, using dating apps to track down targets. In doing so, Domino is endangering the magical realm, threatening to reveal to mankind that witches live among them. A coven is therefore following her every move, trying to learn exactly who and what Domino is… something that she’s also trying to discover herself.
RULE-BREAKER
Dark, sexy and smart, Domino Day follows in the footsteps of other British supernatural shows such as Being Human, another BBC Three production. For creator Lauren Sequeira though, onboard as writer and producer, the inspiration for her show was distinctly more American. In fact, Domino Day is her answer to something she perceives to be lacking in UK genre TV, she tells SFX.
“I’ve always loved supernatural shows – The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, etc – but we don’t really do that genre over here, not a lot anyway. So with the BBC getting behind this, saying ‘Let’s do witches’, that’s cool.”
It’s been a long development process, with the idea for Domino Day bubbling away in Sequeira’s mind since 2018. As SFX stands on set with her, the writer confesses that it feels “pretty special, yet surreal” to finally be shooting her series. Today the team are filming at Domino’s flat, a ramshackle room with a mattress lying on the floor, tucked away down an alley in the bohemian part of the city, the Northern Quarter.
Once home to superheroes, with the graffiti “Captain America was here” serving as a reminder that Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger was shot on these streets, the city is now overrun by witches. Manchester wasn’t originally the location of choice for Domino Day; Sequeira reveals that initially it was set in London, with the BBC requesting the move to “represent all regions”.
However, now the team can’t picture the show taking place anywhere else. Actor Poppy Lee Friar, who plays coven member Geri, explains why Manchester provides the perfect backdrop: “It has the exact fire needed for this show and a very grungy, New York vibe, which suits the aesthetic. That, juxtaposed against this sexy, neon styling, it’s a character itself. There’s an aged, decaying beauty here which reflects the dying-out of an establishment in our magical realm, something which is
