A PASSIONATE WOMAN - BBC ONE, 11th & 18th APRIL (06/04/2010)
Kay Mellor's hotly anticipated two part drama adaptation of A Passionate Woman is set to premiere on BBC One this weekend, with the first episode screening this Sunday at 9pm, followed by the second on 18th April. A Passionate Woman, set in Leeds, debuts on the small screen nearly two decades after it began life as a play at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 1992. It has since toured the international circuit to critical acclaim. Starring Billie Piper, Sue Johnston, Alun Armstrong and Frances Barber, A Passionate Woman tells the story of a young wife and mother who falls in love with her Polish neighbour in 1950's Britain, only for her affair to implode 30 years later on her son's wedding day. Rollem Productions filmed A Passionate Woman at locations across West Yorkshire in autumn 2009. Screen Yorkshire invested £250,000 and provided locations and crewing support. A feature film version is set for release later this year.
Video: Kay Mellor talks about A Passionate Woman's journey to the screen in our vodcast, which was filmed at a very special preview screening at Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds (one of the locations featured in the film) in March 2010. http://bit.ly/kay-mellor-introduces-a-passionate-woman
Kay and Billie interview on GMTV: http://www.gm.tv/videos/?vxClipId=1441_gmtv_8789
Locations used for the shoot include:
- Roundhay Park, Leeds
- Hyde Terrace, Hyde Park, Leeds
- Hyde Park Cinema, Leeds
- Blenheim Square, Leeds
- Leeds City Centre Market
- Kings Hall, Ilkley
- Studio 81, Leeds
- St Lukes, Bradford
Billie Piper stars as Betty, a young wife and mother who reluctantly falls passionately and hopelessly in love with her charismatic Polish neighbour, Alex Crazenovski, played by Theo James (new Woody Allen film - untitled). But little does Betty know that some 30 years later, in Eighties Thatcherite Britain, her affair will implode on her beloved son Mark's wedding day. Mark as an adult is played by Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval). Sue Johnston (The Turn Of The Screw, Waking The Dead), stars as Betty in the Eighties opposite Alun Armstrong (New Tricks) who plays her devoted, if dull, husband, Donald. The younger Donald is played by Alun Armstrong's real-life son Joe Armstrong (Robin Hood). Frances Barber (The Street) plays Betty's sister, Margaret, who is always there for her sibling through thick and thin, and in her younger years aided and abetted Betty's affair. Rachel Leskovac (Coronation Street, Holby City) plays Margaret in the Fifties.
Kay Mellor, one of Britain's leading TV writers, has penned numerous hit dramas including The Chase, Fat Friends, Playing The Field and the seminal Band Of Gold alongside feature films, Girl's Night and Fanny and Elvis. She was awarded on OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2009.
Kay Mellor says: "Mum and I were washing-up one day when she confided in me she'd had an affair before I was born, when she and my dad lived in the poorer area of Leeds. The affair ended when her lover was suddenly killed. I realised she'd kept this secret for 30 years and that she still loved this man. Years later, my younger brother was getting married and I saw that same pain on her face. I knew these two periods of mum's life were intrinsically linked and I was compelled to write the play A Passionate Woman for the West Yorkshire Playhouse. It transferred to the West End and there was lots of interest in the film rights, but I feared it would become Cher on a roof-top in Detroit so I held onto them. Now, with the BBC and Screen Yorkshire's support, it's the project I want it to be. Three years ago mum died and I suppose the film is a way of bringing her back for me."
A Passionate Woman is co-directed by Kay Mellor (Fanny And Elvis) and Antonia Bird (Cracker, Rehab, Safe), with Screen Yorkshire investing £250,000 and Exec Producing and Carey Fitzgerald's High Point Films, the theatrical sales arm of High Point Media Group, handling international sales. The producer for Rollem Productions is Yvonne Francas (The Chase, Fat Friends, Strictly Confidential) and the executive producers are Nicola Shindler (Sunshine, Hillsborough, Queer As Folk), Hugo Heppell at Screen Yorkshire and Polly Hill at the BBC. A Passionate Woman was commissioned for the BBC by Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, and Jay Hunt, Controller of BBC One. More about A Passionate Woman on the BBC website
Find out about other film and television productions that have filmed here recently and the locations that help make Yorkshire one of the most desirable locations for filmmakers in the UK in our Made In Yorkshire section.
