The Capture cast and creator talk 'fake news' and surveillance technology at Comic-Con@Home

The Capture, a Peacock launch title (and BBC show that aired last year) that focuses on ultra-sophisticated surveillance and its spooky, thrillery applications, burst onto the nerdy genre scene with its San Diego Comic-Con@Home panel today.

Detective Inspector Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) is investigating a conspiracy that takes place in a "dizzying world of fakery and disinformation," as creator/director Ben Chanan puts it in the video posted below. The Capture is already set up for a second season at BBC One, picking up where the first season leaves off after a twist ending.

Featuring Grainger, as well as co-stars Callum Turner, Ron Perlman, Laura Haddock, and Famke Janssen, alongside executive producers Chanan and Rosie Alison, the panel was all about technology and where it's going in the all-too-near future.

You can watch the full panel below:

After playing an extended trailer for the show, Chanan explained that he began writing the series before deepfakes existed or "'fake news' was a household phrase," which meant the show looked particularly prescient when it aired.

This present urgency of the subject matter has influenced the cast's habits around technology. "I've definitely noticed cameras more than I did before," Janssen said.

"It's almost like all the care you take in preserving your privacy — it doesn't really matter what you do," Perlman added. "They're listening and they're watching, and they can do anything that they want with that information, depending on what kind of mood they're in at any given time."

Perlman also drew some real-world connections to current political administrations. "We have politicians all around the world that are telling you, 'You didn't see what you just saw,'" Perlman said. "Those are our leaders. So what kind of a shot do we have at maintaining some sort of real perspective?" 

Turner noted that he loves Brave New World and 1984, and finding links to literary dystopia in this thriller that's more linked to the technology of the real world.

Chanan left fans with what he wants them to take away from the series: "I suppose the central question is 'In a world where every piece of video footage could be manipulated, how can we believe what we see?'"

The Capture is streaming on Peacock now.

Click here for SYFY WIRE's full coverage of Comic-Con@Home 2020.