Category: IN FOCUS
Normal people
In French coming-of-age comedy Aspergirl, a mother must fight for custody of her son after she discovers she is autistic. Star Nicole Ferroni and screenwriters Judith Godinot and Hadrien Cousin take DQ into the making of the show and explain how they sought to portray autism on screen.
Down under and dirty
Ten Pound Poms dramatises the true story of the Britons who paid for the chance to start a new life down under in the 1950s. Writer Danny Brocklehurst and executive producer Joel Wilson tell DQ about creating this characterful drama and taking the polish off the period genre.
Mum’s the word
In three-part drama Maryland, a pair of estranged sisters discover their mother’s secret life after her sudden death. Star and co-creator Suranne Jones discusses her partnership behind the camera with writer Anne-Marie O’Connor and director Sue Tully.
Hot stuff
Swiss graphic novel Les Indociles (The Firebrands) is translated for television in a five-part drama about a group of friends in the midst of a new drug culture in the 1970s and 80s. Director Delphine Lehericey and stars Maya Sansa and Thibaut Evrard explain why the script had the cast in tears and how the focus of the story had to change for TV.
Southpaw story
Spanish writer Rafael Cobos makes his directorial debut with El Hijo Zurdo (The Left-Handed Son), which was named best shortform series at Canneseries this year. He joins star María León and producer Fran Araujo to discuss the emotional thriller.
Dancing to a new beat
Director Toumani Sangaré and producer Alexandre Rideau discuss bringing the sounds of Afrobeat to music thriller Black Santiago Club, filming in Benin and breaking international boundaries with African drama.
Twin it to win it
Head writer and executive producer Alice Birch joins star and fellow exec producer Rachel Weisz to explain how they reworked David Cronenberg film Dead Ringers as a six-part Prime Video series about identical twin gynaecologists – both of whom are played by Weisz.
Hit for Six Four
Six Four transplants the basis of a Japanese novel to the streets of Glasgow, where the disappearance of a young girl has haunting parallels to a previously unsolved case. Creator Gregory Burke and stars Kevin McKidd and Vinette Robinson reveal more.
Mama drama
The cast and creative team behind Italian series The Good Mothers discuss how it flips the script on mafia dramas with the true story of how three women found the courage to bring down a deadly clan.
Sparking conversations
Prime Video’s long-anticipated adaptation of Naomi Alderman novel The Power is set in a world where girls are suddenly able to generate electricity at will. DQ speaks to the cast and production team about overcoming creative changes and Covid to create this globe-trotting spectacle.
Kindred spirits
Kindred stars Mallori Johnson and Micah Stock join showrunner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to share their experiences of working on this eight-part adaptation of Octavia E Butler’s novel, which blends time travel with a focus on 19th century slavery.
Bad times
In Australian drama Bad Behaviour, a year spent in the wilderness comes back to haunt the former students of an exclusive girls’ boarding school. DQ speaks to the cast and creative team about developing the time-jumping story and creating a camp spirit on set.
Rise to power
Bridgerton creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes introduces spin-off prequel Queen Charlotte, as members of the cast preview what’s in store for fans of the Netflix period drama.
Community action
Australian series In Our Blood dramatises how the country’s government and LGBT community uniquely came together to tackle the emergence of HIV and AIDs in the 1980s. Star Tim Draxl and producer Nathan Mayfield discuss telling this story against a backdrop of politics, music and a Greek chorus.
Gone but Unforgotten
As cold-case drama Unforgotten returns for a fifth season, writer Chris Lang and stars Sanjeev Bhaskar and Sinéad Keenan reveal how the acclaimed series picks up following the departure of one of the show’s stars.
Global swarming
The Swarm is the eagerly anticipated big-budget adaptation of Frank Schätzing’s ecological disaster novel. DQ buzzes around production designer Julian Wagner, director Barbara Eder and VFX supervisor Jan Stoltz to hear about filming in Italy, shooting in water tanks and creating a pod of sleeping whales.
Smelting pot
Writer Neil Forsyth, director Aneil Karia and the cast of BBC heist drama The Gold reflect on dramatising the true story behind the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery, when six armed men stumbled upon gold bullion worth £26m.
Too hot to handle
As production begins on BBC series Boiling Point, the team behind the five-part restaurant-set drama discuss developing the feature film spin-off and reveal why, unlike the original, it won’t be shot in one take.
Who you gonna call?
Writer-director Joe Cornish and executive producer Rachael Prior take DQ into the world of Lockwood & Co, Netflix’s adaptation of Jonathan Stroud’s teen ghost-hunter fantasy novels.
Making accusations
Accused executive producers Howard Gordon and Glenn Geller explain why this Fox anthology series is more than a courtroom drama.