SFX 241 PREVIEW Howard Overman on Misfits final series

The Misfits creator talks series four’s shortcomings and the proper superpowers in store for series five

In SFX 241 we’re going all out for the fifth and final series of Misfits . As well as a satanic set visit report we chat with the show’s creator Howard Overman where, amongst many things, he speaks frankly about series four’s shortcomings:

“I was really disappointed with the start of series four. It was a tricky one because it was the new gang and there were massive problems with the loss of a certain character at short notice. The start of the series was not our finest hour by a long stretch, but we were only a few weeks out of filming when suddenly everything was thrown up in the air, so I think series four suffered across the board from a sudden scrabble to fix things.”

Fortunately, with the cast firmly in place, series five won’t be suffering from similar problems. In fact, this being the show’s final year, it’ll be going out with a bang thanks to some A-grade superpowers possessed by a rival gang.

“There’s a rival gang that slowly comes together over the course of the series and those guys have much better powers," says Overman. "It’s this slow-burn thing where this other gang come together and you’re not quite sure what their intentions are going to be.”

One of those is the power of flight, which Joe Gilgun (Rudy) told us about filming in his own inimitable way on set.

“It always ends up looking really cool, but as you’re going through the motions you can’t help but think you look a little bit like a twat. There’s been some green screenage, that’s been awesome. The guy who flies holds me in a bumming position while we fly, that’s the sort of thing I’m talking about, when you can feel a man’s genitals bumping against my buttocks. Fucking unbelievable. It just had to be like that, it couldn’t have just been him holding me.”

Misfits series five begins on E4 next Wednesday 23 October

Jordan Farley

I'm the News Editor at Total Film magazine, running the opening pages of every issue where you can read exclusive interviews and see first-look images from the biggest films. I was previously the Community Editor at sci-fi, fantasy and horror movie bible SFX. You'll find my name on news, reviews, and interviews covering every type of movie, from the latest French arthouse release to the biggest Hollywood blockbuster. My work has also featured in Official PlayStation Magazine and Edge. Outside of my day job, I'm a FromSoft fanatic (proudest achievement: beating Malenia solo) and a TV connoisseur (translation: I'll watch anything).