Martin Compston admits he has been 'blown away' by the positive response to his new drama Mayflies.
The Greenock-born actor stars in the TV adaptation of Scots author Andrew O'Hagan's book of the same name, which won Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year 2021. The Line of Duty actor stars alongside Tony Curran and Ashley Jensen in the heartbreaking drama which tells a story of friendship, love, and loyalty.
The two-part show was filmed in and around Glasgow and Ayrshire and tackles the controversial subject of assisted dying. The 38-year-old took to social media and said: "Whole cast and production team of MAYFLIES been blown away by reaction of those who watched on @bbcscotland and @bbciplayer.
"The messages genuinely been wonderful especially those reaching out who have dealt with loss. Can’t thank you all enough."
Mayflies was met with widespread praise across social media, with many fans praising the 'breath-taking' and 'emotional' series. One said: "@martin_compston @TonyCurran69 watching mayflies and loving it, sensitive subject but you guys nailed it, great acting all round, lucky I’ve got the subtitles."
"#Mayflies, is a superb adaptation of Andrew O'Hagan's acclaimed novel, beautiful performances from @martin_compston & @TonyCurran69," penned another.
Speaking alongside co-star Tony to RadioTimes, the two actors hoped the series would spark conversations on euthanasia. Tony admitted he was attracted to the series because he "thought it was a poignant, beautiful story that hopefully people enjoy".
He continued: "And then obviously with the euthanasia aspect tied to it, hopefully it can start a conversation as well, which I think would be interesting and compelling."
Compston continued: "I think, the thing with the assisted dying - I mean it's a BBC show so it has to be neutral and I believe we are neutral - there’s very strong opinions on both sides. You know, from my own point of view, I'm a patron of a hospice, I think their end of life care is wonderful.
"But there are situations when we do our research and we see these heartbreaking stories of people who feel they have no option but to take the ending of their life into their own hands and are forced to do it away from their home and a lot of times with one relative or something.
"So I just think we really want to add to that conversation, and make it sort of more mainstream."
He added: "We don't have the answers to it, there's very rightly on both sides strong opinions. People very rightly say they’re worried - you have to protect the vulnerable, they don't want people to take advantage of them.
"So I think it has to be thoroughly, thoroughly spoken about and debated before any decision is reached, but I think we just want to make that conversation more mainstream."
Mayflies is available on BBC iPlayer to stream now.
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