Wolfe season one, episode three spoilers follow.

Sky Max's new drama Wolfe is a forensic crime series from the mind of Shameless' Paul Abbott, so it's no surprise there's a fair few icky moments spread throughout.

The third episode in particular opens with an exploding body, which is as grim as it sounds.

So, when Digital Spy exclusively spoke to leading actor Babou Ceesay about the show, we couldn't resist asking just how vomit-inducing filming those scenes actually was.

babou ceesay, wolfe
Matt Squire / Sky UK

Related: Babou Ceesay says Guerrilla on Sky Atlantic is "extraordinary" television: "It gets very dark by the end"

"The forensic people who we were working with, who advised us, said that the only difference [between real body parts and prosthetics] really is the smell," he explained. "You’re not getting any smell there, but your brain does all kinds of things to you.

"And the exploding body, it was a bit much for me personally. But I was lucky. I kept my distance a lot. The team–I’m their boss. I’m like, 'You check that out [laughs].' It was awful.

"One of the best moments on set though, except for her [Naomi Yang, who plays Maggy]. They rigged an explosion inside this body and the gunk, it was filled with gunk, when it did explode, it flew straight into her mouth and it’s caught on camera."

episode 04
Matt Squire / Sky UK

He added: "I was behind a sofa and I still got some on me. Wolfe hid just before it exploded because he could tell."

Dealing with the gruesome nature of the job and then having to go home and have dinner with the family is just part of the black comedy of the show, which also stars Game of Thrones' Natalia Tena, Sherlock star Amanda Abbington and The Bay actor Adam Long.

Ceesay knows that it may not be to everyone's tastes, but he's not bothered by that, stating that if audiences are laughing while also appalled, then "we've done our job".

All six episodes of Wolfe are available to watch right away on Sky Max and NOW in the UK.

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Joe Anderton

Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer and resident Welsh person at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. 

In his time he's covered a host of live events, interviewed celebrities big and small and crowbarred a countless amount of great/awful (delete as appropriate) puns into articles. 

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