Craig Fairbrass hits out at modern TV over lack of British representation: ‘We had Minder and The Sweeney

In Retribution, Mr Fairbrass is joined by a wealth of British talent, with stars like Tamer Hassan, Leo Gregory, and Ross McCall among his co-stars.

Andy Loveday and Nick Nevern both also star, as well as directing and penning the script for the latest action-packed chapter in Tate’s story.

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GB NEWS

It’s been almost 20 years since the first film debuted in 2007, and speaking on the red carpet at Retribution’s premiere, Mr Fairbrass shed light on why he felt the series had proven such a long-standing success.

“I’ve always said (it’s for the working man), it’s neglected audiences,” he began before he turned his attention to the shift he’s witnessed when it comes to mainstream entertainment.

“When I was growing up, it was Minder, The Professionals, The Sweeney – we had all that. Now, if you go on any of the streaming platforms nowadays, there’s none of that for anyone normal!”

Mr Fairbrass was keen to point out that he wasn’t “having a pop at anybody” but wanted to highlight “that there is a fascination in the UK for British crime” that is currently not provided for by others.

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Speaking of the Footsoldier series, specifically, he said: “(There have been) two generations of all these geezers and what we’ve done (since) that first movie… organically it’s moved to a different space.

“Here we are seven films later, and each one of them is different, each one of them has pushed the envelope further each time, and it’s got bigger and better.”

And the main reason for the films’ success, according to Mr Fairbrass, has been down to one thing: the movies’ fanbase.

“There’s an appetite there (for British crime films),” he continued. “You’ve only got to look at the last movie (and how it did) on the streamers and the box office.”

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He added: “You’ve got to remember we’re an independent movie, but we’re a strong independent franchise, the only crime franchise in the UK, and that is down to one thing: our fans. The fans are loyal; they love it.”

GB News also spoke to director Mr Navern about the lack of British representation in the crime-action genre. The filmmaker wasted no time in pinpointing a “snobbery” towards the “working classes”.

“You’ve got to have a lot of balls to do something like this, you’ve got to have a lot of fan need – if the fans didn’t like these films we wouldn’t be doing them,” he began.

“(But) we’ve got a lot of talent in the working classes. We’ve got a lot of great filmmakers, a lot of great actors, a lot of great behind-the-scenes people, a lot of great makeup artists, a lot of beautiful people who do 9-5s while working on film sets.

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GB NEWS

“Sometimes, only sometimes, the industry can be a bit snobby. Let’s have it right. The minute you say Rise of the Footsoldier, half of them won’t review it. They won’t watch the film.

“I just hope with this one, because we tried something different – we’re not trying to compete with them, we’re trying to show them that we can do it as well, and we can do it to a very high standard.”

Retribution hits cinemas on August 28, and in the hopes of expanding the Footsoldier fanbase further, Mr Nevern and Mr Loveday opted for a new creative direction.

The blockbuster is the first film in the franchise’s near-two-decade history to receive a 15 certificate rather than an 18.

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While the Footsoldier series may be the leading figure when it comes to the British crime genre, there is one other action franchise that remains quintessentially British: James Bond.

At 62, Mr Fairbrass has proven with Retribution that he’s not afraid of an action sequence or two, so would he fancy playing Daniel Craig’s successor?

“I’ll play Daniel’s dad, are you mad?” he told GB News with a chuckle. However, Mr Nevern was more on board with the idea.

“If they made me the next director of Bond, Craig would be my only choice,” he said.