If you're looking for some new TV to watch, why not take some inspiration from Natasia Demetriou's IMDB page? The actress, comedian and writer has just also added presenter to the list, in fronting Netflix's slightly insane, but very watchable The Big Flower Fight alongside Vic Reeves. A Bake Off/Sewing Bee/Pottery Throwdown for flowers probably doesn't do it justice, but gives you an idea... if you also throw a welder into the mix.
Once you've done that, if you've not already done so, we'd recommend delving into All4's Stath Lets Flats- an estate agent-based comedy where she plays sister to her real-life brother, Jamie, the creator of the show. A lockdown episode – created over Zoom – has already had more than 55,000 views and gained wide acclaim.
Then, once you're done that, we'd recommend What We Do In The Shadows, the comedy series based on the hit film – series one is available on iPlayer while we eagerly await the second here on BBC Two. Series three has just been greenlit, but, like everything else, has been curtailed by coronavirus lockdown.
So, that's probably enough to be getting along with... after you've read this interview, of course. We caught up with Natasia via phone this week, dragging her away from her puzzles to chat.
How did you get involved with The Big Flower Fight?
I got involved because the guys who made it approached me and I’m at a stage in my life that if you give me a compliment, I usually do it. That’s something I’m working on… And it was a very mad-sounding, kitsch, over-the-top, camp, funny, creative show and I liked the sound of that. And then they said Vic was going to be the other presenter and I was like, ‘Yes please’, like that would be fun. I’ve always wanted to try presenting and see what it was like, and you know, it could be a huge mistake… it’s only been out for a while, time will tell.
The show seems to lean into the craziness of the concept...
Still, whenever I do interviews I don’t have the exact phrasing of how to describe it, but it sounds like a mad concept and it sounds very showy-offy, but it is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
Are the contestants already quite professional or amateur?
There were florists and people who maintain gardens, but they’re actually building giant installations made of flowers where the idea is they’re living and breathing and supposed to last for weeks and months. It’s a real skill that lots of them had never done before. Not that many people have a giant dome, endless chicken wire and a welder on site to help create giant floral sculptures. So for a lot of them it was definitely new turf. And that works on different levels because this is a conversation about a gardening show.
With this kind of format, the chemistry of the presenters is so key - how did you find building that?
I’ve obviously grown up watching Vic’s comedy and we have a few mutual friends and have worked with similar people. So I had hopes we’d get on well and it would be easy and work quite well and it really did. We met outside the grounds where we filmed and just chatted all day. It was quite effortless – he likes talking about beetroot and I like talking about beetroot.
Did you enjoy coming up with all the flower puns?
Yes we did – leaf it out… We’d sit and do puns all day long. That’s really made my daisy… Sometimes I love you tulip much…
Has the show made you a massive flower fan and keen gardener?
I’ve got a little balcony and I planted some begonia corms and this morning I went out and fed them with tomato feed. Turns out tomato feed is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s good for any plant. I've definitely got all the enthusiasm, I’ve got too much enthusiasm, but none of the skill or patience. At the moment there’s a lot of quite dry-looking pots and me just pouring tomato feed on them hoping something will happen.
Aside from gardening, how have you handled lockdown?
I’m back into puzzles in a big way. My parents dropped round some puzzles and left them on my doorstep. They’re all about 10 years old, so I’m doing a London Underground tube map puzzle and most of the stations don’t exist anymore. Embroidery – my writing partner Ellie [White] got into embroidery early doors lockdown and then I’d see on FaceTime what she’d done and I was jealous. I think like most people I’m feeling incredibly blissed out at the slower pace of life and then just feeling like you’re drowning in anxiety.
Being a creative, do you worry about what coronavirus means for filming and the industry?
Me and Ellie, we’ve been writing our sketch show. We’re supposed to be filming now, literally today. But we’ve been given a bit more time, so we’re writing still. What We Do In The Shadows series three has been commissioned, but it’s got to be safe. And especially with comedy… like in Eastenders they can write coronavirus into the scripts, so people can actually be socially distancing. But if you’re in a sketch show where you’re on top of each other, doing stupid things, you can’t really make it work. Maybe we could wear green screen masks for the whole thing and then you could… I don’t know, I’ve got no idea.
What We Do In The Shadows has been such a huge hit - what do you think people love about it?
I think it’s a really funny idea itself. I do think it is just a comedy, it’s a proper, proper comedy – all the writers or performers are trying to do is be funny.
The vampires have some experience of being locked indoors - what do you think their advice for lockdown would be?
If you’re lucky enough to have a partner, explore, get sexual… Anything you’ve wanted to try, try it now. You’re encouraged to stay in the bedroom. Probably a lot of hair blow-drying and maintainance, but mainly sex. And arguing.
You also did a lockdown episode of Stath Lets Flats - how did you find that?
It was so lovely, Stath Lets Flats is just the best thing ever, I love it so much and it was heaven to do it. The script was amazing and my brother is a genius. You can’t improvise, because we did it on Zoom, so you can’t be talking over each other. So it was really not an easy thing to do. But I loved it, it was heaven.
The Big Flower Flight is available to stream on Netflix now.
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