Jack Davenport reveals he ‘wouldn't say no’ to a reunion of beloved sitcom Coupling

Virgin Radio

13 Feb 2024, 13:15

Actor Jack Davenport spoke to Virgin Radio about the chances of there being more from the popular comedy, Coupling. 

Ahead of his return to the stage in The Human Body later this week, Jack joined Jayne Middlemiss on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch. Talk turned to his breakthrough role in This Life in 1996, where he starred as  Miles Stewart, and his time playing Steve Taylor in Coupling, which ran for four seasons at the start of the 2000s. Coupling was created by Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat.

On landing a role in This Life, he told Jayne, who is looking after the Breakfast Show this week while Chris is on holiday: “It was my first big TV job. I was only 22 when it started, and it was, like, 1995, so the whole Blur/Oasis thing was happening.”

On becoming famous thanks to the show, he said: “It was a bit like being shot out of a cannon. I don't think any of us really expected it.”

The star - who has gone on to appear in films such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Kingsman - continued: “We didn't really realise that was happening until… there's a moment when, if you're in a show which really hits, you just start getting invited to stuff randomly. And I remember the first time we were all like, ‘Wait, what's happening?’ we all got invited to Elton John's birthday party! And we were like, ‘What?’ Of course, we all went. And then we got invited to a party at Richard Branson's house. It was very strange.”

He added: “It was it was a lot of blurry activity in Soho, mainly.”

When a listener messaged in to ask if there is any truth to the rumours of a Coupling reunion, the actor replied: “I'm not sure there's that much truth to that rumour. I mean, Steven Moffat, the esteemed writer of Coupling, is a production machine at this point.”

However, he then went on to say: “I mean, I wouldn't say no, we had a very nice time doing that,” and tantalisingly added: “I can neither confirm nor deny!"

Jack stars in The Human Body at The Donmar Warehouse in London from Friday 16th February until Saturday 13th April. He told Jayne: “It's a new play written by an extraordinarily playwright called Lucy Kirkwood, who's written lots, she just did The Witches at the National Theatre. She's ridiculously talented. And it's myself, and the wonderful Keeley Hawes who everybody loves, including me.

“And it is based around the period where the NHS was first founded, which is 1948. And that's the background of the play, and in the foreground is a very sweeping, romantic, doomed love story.”

If you want to get tickets, the bad news is that they are already sold out. But Jack says that shouldn’t necessarily stop you. “The Donmar Warehouse is quite a small theatre, and they've got a very committed subscriber base and so they tend to hoover up a lot of the tickets to begin with. But even with shows that say on the website, as ours does, that it’s sold out, they do hold back a few tickets every week,” he explained. “So if you kind of return and kind of keep pestering them, you will get a seat. So there will be seats, just maybe not today.”

The Human Body begins Friday 16th February at The Donmar Warehouse and runs until Saturday 13th April. For more information visit donmarwarehouse.com.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.