Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season four of Succession.
Succession’s Brian Cox really let the spirit of his foul-mouthed character Logan Roy take hold as he shouted “bollocks” right in the middle of a BBC interview.
Brian played the infamous media boss Logan right up until the HBO series’ final season, when he was shockingly killed off.
The character was known for being particularly rude to pretty much anyone and everyone, but particularly his four children, who were vying for his throne as the boss of an enormous international organisation.
Though Brian avoided uttering Logan’s most famous slogan – “Fuck off!” – he did still end up swearing in conversation on BBC Two’s Amol Rajan Interviews ahead of Succession’s ultimate finale.
And surprisingly, that part of their chat somehow made it onto BBC Radio 4′s Today programme at 7.45am on Thursday.
Introducing the segment, Amol was careful to warn “there was a bit of bad language coming up”.
Their conversation seemed to spice up when Amol asked the famous actor: “What about this idea that only actors who have had certain experiences should play certain roles? You mention –”
Brain then cut in and shouted: “Bollocks! Absolute bollocks!”
The journalist asked: “Why?”
“Because it’s the imagination,” Brian replied. It’s again what I talked about earlier on, about interfering with the imagination.”
As the interview cut back to the Today programme studio, co-host Nick Robinson quipped: “Just to remind you, that was the actor rather than Logan Roy, although at times you couldn’t exactly tell the difference, could you?”
Although plenty of people were slightly surprised at the decision to include Brian’s swearing in the final edit, the BBC’s editorial guidelines explain: “The use of strong language must be editorially justified, and signposted if appropriate, to ensure it meets audience expectations, wherever it appears.”
And, it seems fans loved it on Twitter:
The full interview, Brian Cox: Amol Rajan Interviews, is on BBC Two on Thursday May 25 at 7pm and BBC iPlayer.
Succession’s finale episode airs every Monday morning at 2am in the UK, on Sky Atlantic and NowTV.