BBC Two

Mother’s Day

Daniel Mays is currently in production on the BBC single drama “Mother’s Day” a new factual drama for BBC Two about the events, aftermath and public response to the Warrington bombing of March 1993.  This 90 minute factual drama is directed by Fergus O’Brien (Against the Law).

From the BBC Press Site:

Filming has begun on Mother’s Day, a new factual drama for BBC Two about the events, aftermath and public response to the Warrington bombing of March 1993. Casting includes Anna Maxwell Martin, Vicky McClure, Daniel Mays and David Wilmot.

  • Casting includes Anna Maxwell Martin, Vicky McClure, Daniel Mays and David Wilmot
  • Filming is now underway in Belfast

Written by Nick Leather (Murdered For Being Different, Broken) Mother’s Day focuses on two ordinary women living either side of the Irish Sea, brought together in the wake of the tragedy.

Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland, Good Omens) plays Wendy Parry, the mother of 12 year old Tim Parry who lost his life in the attack which left two boys dead and many others injured. Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, The Replacement) plays Susan McHugh, the Dublin mother of two so outraged by the loss of young life that she organised one of the largest peace rallies in Irish history, leading thousands through the streets in protest at the continued violence of the Troubles. Daniel Mays (Against The Law, Rogue One) will play Tim’s father Colin Parry, with David Wilmot (The Alienist, Black Sails) as Arthur McHugh. Further casting includes Simone Kirby and Conor Mullen.

Anna Maxwell Martin says: “I know that many will recall the bravery and dignity shown by the families affected by the Warrington bombings. It’s a real honour to be telling their story.”

Vicky McClure says: “Susan McHugh’s actions back in 1993 remain just as inspirational today as they were 25 years ago. I feel truly privileged to play her in this incredibly moving new film.”

Writer Nick Leather says: “As someone who grew up in Warrington and was on my way into town on the day of the bombing, bringing this astonishing story to the screen has been a career-long mission. Over the last year, I’ve been fortunate to work with a wonderfully supportive team at the BBC, including the director Fergus O’Brien, and have found the Parry and McHugh families to be even more inspiring than I did as a kid. I hope people are as moved and affected by this drama as we have been making it.”

Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, says: “It is with great power and poignancy that Mother’s Day looks at how the worst of tragedies can affect both those directly involved and communities further afield, inspiring them to act. We’re immensely proud to tell this story. ”

Patrick Holland, Channel Controller of BBC Two, says: “Nick Leather’s script takes us into the heart of a family’s grief whilst also following the extraordinary unwillingness to let another death be in vain. With the outstanding Anna Maxwell Martin and Vicky McClure this promises to be a remarkable and powerful film.”

Aysha Rafaele, Executive Producer for BBC Studios, adds: “From my previous work with Nick Leather and Fergus O’Brien, I can’t think of a better team to bring this powerful story to the screen. Working closely with the real families involved, Nick has written a remarkable script and it’s a real joy to assemble such a first rate cast to play these roles.”

Mother’s Day (1×90’) is produced by BBC Studios for BBC Two, and will be directed by Fergus O’Brien (Against The Law) and produced by Scott Bassett (Murdered For Being Different). It was commissioned by Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, and Patrick Holland, Controller of BBC Two. Executive Producers are Tommy Bulfin for the BBC and Aysha Rafaele for BBC Studios.

Best of luck to the cast and crew as they begin filming this important factual drama.

Stay tuned for updates from filming.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law-Broadcast Awards Nomination

Against the Law starring Daniel Mays has been shortlisted for Best Single Drama in the 2018 Broadcast Awards. This BBC Two Factual drama also stars Richard Gadd and Mark Gatiss. Written by Brian Fillis and directed by Fergus O’Brien it aired in July 2017 as part of the BBC Gay Britannia Season.

2017 sees the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexual acts in England and Wales between adult males, in private. While it would take several decades before homosexuals would reach anything like full equality in this country, this legislation marks the beginning of this journey.

But the dramatic events that led to this Act took place over ten years before and are at the heart of Against the Law, a powerful factual drama starring Daniel Mays and Mark Gatiss. Mays plays Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover, under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial. Wildeblood, and his friends Lord Montagu and Michael Pitt-Rivers, were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed. But the public thought the trial unfair and forced a reluctant government to set up a committee to investigate whether homosexuality should be legalised. The committee was led by Sir John Wolfenden. With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Peter Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him. He was the only openly gay man to testify before the Wolfenden committee about the brutal reality of being gay in this country at that time. In 1957 the committee recommended that the laws be changed. It would take a further ten years before these recommendations would become law.

Woven through this powerful drama is testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their ‘condition’. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All these accounts amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

The Broadcast Awards are held 7 February 2018 in London.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law Wins 2017 Pink News Award!

Against the Law starring Daniel Mays, directed by Fergus O’Brien, and written by Brian for BBC Two as part of the BBC’s Gay Britannia Season was nominated and WON the Pink News Special Award for 50th Anniversary coverage of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Daniel Mays attended this evening’s Pink News Awards in London (18 October). The Awards celebrate the contributions of politicians, businesses, campaigners and community groups to improving LGBT+ life in the UK and beyond.

Congratulations to all who were nominated and won this evening!

Watch the video of the evening’s awards at Pink News Facebook page.
Against the Law’s winning announcement with speeches from Fergus O’Brien and Daniel Mays is at 1hr28 mark.

Photos from tonight:

attends the Pink News Awards 2017 held at One Great George Street on October 18, 2017 in London, England.
attends the Pink News Awards 2017 held at One Great George Street on October 18, 2017 in London, England.
attends the Pink News Awards 2017 held at One Great George Street on October 18, 2017 in London, England.
attends the Pink News Awards 2017 held at One Great George Street on October 18, 2017 in London, England.

With thanks to Pink News and its voters.

Against the Law is available on DVD.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Daniel Mays Joins The Cast of Good Omens

It was announced today that Daniel Mays has joined the cast of Amazon and BBC Two’s Good Omens as Arthur Young, the unknowing father of Adam Young, the antichrist.

Commenting on his casting, Daniel Mays says: “Beyond overjoyed to be jumping on board Good Omens. It’s not everyday you get to play the father of the antichrist! Neil Gaiman’s scripts are out of this world and the cast they’ve assembled are second to none. Can’t wait to get cracking!”

Sian Brooke will play Deidre Young, Arthur’s wife and the mother of Adam Young, played by Sam Taylor Buck.

Described as equal parts humor and horror, fantasy and drama, Good Omens takes place in 2018 when the Apocalypse is near and Final Judgment is set to descend upon humanity. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, and tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan — except that Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon, are not looking forward to the coming war, and someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.

Neil Gaiman, writer, says: “Almost 30 years ago Terry Pratchett and I wrote the funniest novel we could about the end of the world, populated with angels and demons, not to mention an 11 year-old Antichrist, witch-finders and the four horsepeople of the Apocalypse. It became many people’s favourite book. Three decades later, it’s going to make it to the screen. I can’t think of anyone we’d rather make it with than BBC Studios, and I just wish Sir Terry was alive to see it.”

Joe Lewis, Head of Comedy and Drama, Amazon Studios, says: “Spanning not only the universe but also the entirety of time, Neil Gaiman has created a story that may be the largest ever told on television. We’re excited to be working with BBC Studios to bring Neil and Terry Pratchett’s incredible book to life and to Prime members everywhere.”

Daniel joins previously announced cast David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Miranda Richardson, Jack Whitehall, and others.

Filming began in London over the last week.

Good Omens was commissioned for Amazon Prime Video and for BBC Two by Patrick Holland, Controller, BBC Two; Shane Allen, Controller, BBC Comedy Commissioning and BBC commissioning editor Gregor Sharp. It is being produced by the comedy team at BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial production arm, Narrativia and The Blank Corporation, in association with BBC Worldwide.

BBC Worldwide distributes rights for Good Omens internationally, after the series premiere on Prime Video. The series will be brought to the screen by the highly acclaimed director/executive producer Douglas Mackinnon, whose credits include Knightfall, Dirk Gently, Doctor Who, Outlander and the standalone Victorian episode of Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, winner of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie last year.

Good Omens will launch globally on Prime Video in over 200 countries and territories in 2019 including in the UK, where it will also air on BBC Two at a later date.

We will have more on this truly exciting new project in the near future.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Passchendaele 100

Daniel Mays took part in the BBC’s World War One Remembered: Passchendaele with his emotional reading of  “Concert Party: Busseboom” by Lieutenant Edmund Blunder.

To mark and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, the BBC will broadcast a series of special live programmes from the Passchendaele centenary commemorations in Flanders, Belgium.

Spanning two days, the commemoration programming will be presented and anchored by Kirsty Young from a BBC studio at The Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Tyne Cot Cemetery, near Ypres. Kirsty will be joined by broadcaster and historian David Olusoga in the studio, together with special guests, and Dan Snow will be bringing all the reaction to events and meeting those taking part.

The commemorations will begin on BBC Two on Sunday 30 July, with a special broadcast including the traditional Menin Gate ceremony followed by a dramatic event in the city’s Market Square. The imposing façade of the Cloth Hall will be illuminated with projections and lights, together with special live performances from artists including Dame Helen Mirren, Daniel Mays, Alfie Boe, War Horse, and the cast of The Wipers Time.

Every evening, the last post is played at the Menin Gate. The distinctive sounding of the bugle call remembers all the men who fought and fell fighting for the restoration of peace around Ypres during the First World War. On this evening, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend the ceremony. TM The King and Queen of the Belgians will also be in attendance.

Following The Menin Gate ceremony, there will be a special event in Ypres Market Square. Presented in front of the historic Cloth Hall, this will be broadcast live on BBC Two and will feature music, stunning projections and live performances. In attendance, among an audience of thousands, will be TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, TM The King and Queen of the Belgians and the British Prime Minister. Highlights of the evening will include performances by Dame Helen Mirren, Daniel Mays, the cast of The Wipers Times introduced by Ian Hislop, a specially written extract from War Horse narrated by Michael Morpurgo, a tri-service orchestra and the voices of the National Youth Choir of Scotland.

Daniel’s reading is towards the end of the broadcast (at 2 hours 43 minutes) but we encourage you to watch the entirety of this extraordinary and moving tribute to the soldiers who bravely fought and to those soldiers whose lives were lost during the long fought Battle of Passchendaele in World War I.

Lest We Forget. 

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law – The Reviews

Against the Law starring Daniel Mays aired in the UK Wednesday 26 July on BBC Two to rave reviews from both the viewing audience and television critics. The one-off factual drama was in third spot for Twitter trends during the almost 90 minute broadcast.

Agains the Law is BBC Two’s powerful factual drama about Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally, under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.

More than ten years before the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967, Peter Wildeblood, and his friends Lord Montagu and Michael Pitt-Rivers, were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed.

With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him.

The reviews are in:

Observer New Review : [Daniel Mays] is perfect in the role.

The Times: ★★★★☆ Daniel Mays was ideally cast as Peter Wildeblood, whose bravery and testimony in 1954 helped to bring about changes in the law for gay men.

The Telegraph: ★★★★☆ A moving story of men who refused to feel ashamed. “…Daniel Mays, who can play cocky and cruel, but here wore the heartbreaking look of a schoolboy learning the vital skill of moral self-defence.”

The Guardian: Mays is unobtrusively brilliant as Wildeblood

The Arts Desk: Daniel Mays is a revelation in a factual drama about Peter Wildeblood’s imprisonment for homosexuality. He exceeds all expectation with this performance. He finds a remarkable range in a life wholly governed by watchfulness and fear.

The Spectator: In the central role, Daniel Mays captured Wildeblood’s reluctant journey into the spotlight perfectly.

Digital Spy: Against the Law is a powerful reminder of how far we have come.

Den of Geek: Daniel Mays delivers an astonishing performance as Peter Wildeblood.

The Conversation: A fitting tribute to gay men whose persecution in the 1950’s paved the way for new rights.

Radio Times:  Against the Law won heaps of praise from viewers last night, many of whom were moved to tears as they hailed the docudrama as both “heartbreaking” and “frustrating”.

The Northern Echo: Daniel Mays says that he believes the drama is “a profound, important piece of work”

You can catch up with Against the Law on BBC iPlayer through 25 August.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law – Tonight 9PM on BBC 2

Against the Law starring Daniel Mays has it’s television debut this evening at 9PM on BBC Two.

2017 sees the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexual acts in England and Wales between adult males, in private. While it would take several decades before homosexuals would reach anything like full equality in this country, this legislation marks the beginning of this journey.

But the dramatic events that led to this Act took place over ten years before and are at the heart of this powerful factual drama, starring Daniel Mays and Mark Gatiss. Mays plays Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover, under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial. Wildeblood and his friends Lord Montagu and Michael Pitt-Rivers were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed. But the public thought the trial unfair and forced a reluctant government to set up a committee to investigate whether homosexuality should be legalized. The committee was led by Sir John Wolfenden. With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Peter Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him. He was the only openly gay man to testify before the Wolfenden Committee about the brutal reality of being gay in this country at that time. In 1957, the committee recommended that the laws be changed. It would take a further ten years before these recommendations would become law.

Woven through this powerful drama is testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to curethem of their ‘condition’. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws, and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All these accounts amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

We hope that you tune in this evening to watch this incredibly important factual-drama.
Against the Law – BBC Two 9PM 26 July 2017.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law – First Look Trailer

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Against the Law first look trailer was released today. Tune in to BBC TWo on  Wednesday 26 July at 9PM for this compelling and important factual drama.

Daniel Mays (Line Of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Public Enemies) stars in BBC Two’s powerful factual drama as Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally (played by newcomer to television, Richard Gadd), under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.

Daniel says ‘I’m incredibly proud to be part of a drama that tells such an important real-life story. Peter Wildeblood is a fascinating, complex, yet flawed character from a time when being a gay man in Britain was incredibly difficult – I can’t wait to bring his tale to life for the BBC Two audience.’

Woven through this powerful drama is real-life testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their “condition”. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws, and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All of these accounts serve to amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

Written by Brian Fillis, Against the Law is directed by Fergus O’Brien, produced by Scott James Bassett and executive produced by Aysha Rafaele, Creative Director of The Documentary Unit, BBC Studios.

Against the Law is part of the BBC’s Gay Britannia season of programming marking the 50th anniversary of The Sexual Offences Act 1967, which partially decriminalised homosexual acts that took place in private between two men over the age of 21.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law – BFI Flare World Premiere

Against the Law starring Daniel Mays had its world premiere at the BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival on Thursday 16 March at the BFI in London.

The film is a powerfully moving drama and intermixed throughout is real-life testimony from men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their “condition”.

BFI Flare audience reaction to the film was incredible and overwhelming.

Daniel says: “I’m incredibly proud to be part of a drama that tells such an important real-life story. Peter Wildeblood is a fascinating, complex, yet flawed character from a time when being a gay man in Britain was incredibly difficult – I can’t wait to bring his tale to life for the BBC Two audience.”

Daniel Mays (Line Of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Public Enemies) stars in BBC Two’s powerful factual drama as Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally (played by newcomer to television, Richard Gadd), under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.Written by Brian Fillis, Against the Law is directed by Fergus O’Brien, produced by Scott James Bassett and executive produced by Aysha Rafaele, Creative Director of The Documentary Unit, BBC Studios.

Photos from the premiere evening can be seen on the BFI Flare Facebook page. Some of our favourites:

Made by BBC Studios, Against the Law will broadcast on BBC Two in July.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Interview – Fergus O’Brien Against the Law 

Fergus O’Brien, director of Against the Law, was interviewed this morning on BBC Radio London to discuss the importance of the BFI Flare Film Festival.

Listen to Fergus O’Brien’s interview. 

The Evening Standard has a great piece on BFI Flare and Againt the Law. 

Against the Law premieres Thursday 16 March at BFI Flare The London LGBT Film Festival. 

The anticipated air date for Against the Law on BBC Two is July 2017 to coincide with 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967. 

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk