Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3 Discusses Adding British Flair to Fallout: London’s Witty Mode of Transport

Fallout: London, the ambitious Fallout 4 modification, has been making waves with its intriguing cast of cameos. Despite facing some early launch glitches, much like the buzz around Stalker 2, the mod has caught the attention of fans of all things nuclear-themed. Among the notable voices is Neil Newbon, who lent his talents to Baldur’s Gate 3, along with some uniquely British figures like former House of Commons Speaker John Bercow.

Neil Newbon recently opened up about his role in this project, shedding light on what drew him to the mod. In an earlier conversation with Team FOLON’s project lead, we learned about some missed communications, and now Newbon offers more context during an interview with GINX TV for their series “The Games That Made Me.”

Newbon shared, “After Astarion and Baldur’s Gate 3 took off, I’d been aware of Fallout: London for some time. I’d actually messaged them over a year ago—perhaps even two—expressing my interest. I told them, ‘This sounds fantastic. I’m a huge Fallout fan and would love to get involved with your free mod.’ But somehow, my message slipped through the cracks for about 18 months.”

Reflecting on why he was willing to work without pay, Newbon explained, “There’s this myth that once actors reach a certain level, smaller developers think they’re unaffordable, which just isn’t true. Winning an award doesn’t make us out of reach—we’re still regular working actors. We’re in it for the love of the craft.”

He spoke to how the team behind Fallout: London collaborated on creating Barry the Boat, a character he voiced. Barry is a quirky robot lodged in a boat, ferrying players across the Thames. Newbon found inspiration from classic British sitcoms like “On the Buses,” though he acknowledged some of the content might not be deemed politically correct today.

“I drew from the character Inspector Cyril, a real stickler with a little Hitler mustache,” Newbon recounted. “I thought it would be fun to bring some of those traits to Barry, who’s essentially a bus himself. It felt amusing to cast him as this grumpy, very British character. Always finding fault—the very essence of being British. The lipstick choice wasn’t mine, but we did a lot of improvisation.”

I must admit, there’s a certain charm to the phrase “very British, you know, everything’s a nightmare” to sum up my own experiences when I first played Fallout: London, before those bugs got ironed out.

Catch Neil Newbon’s full story in “The Games That Made Me” on GINX TV throughout December. Viewers in the UK can tune in via Freeview channel 282, Sky Glass channel 419, or watch online at Ginx.tv.