Rafe Spall on his blistering role in BBC’s The English: ‘I wanted audiences to be repulsed but also enjoy him’

The English is a tale of colonialism and imperialism, of class and the bloodshed underpinning America’s creation story, conversations that remain incredibly relevent. “There’s no point in telling a story unless it has pertinence to culture today, I suppose,” Spall says, “and it definitely does – those themes speak for themselves.” On pressing him, he gently directs me to the show’s creator, “I can’t add more to that conversation than he’s written in the show.”