#bbc press

I'd hate fuck Duncan Allen

Does this count as horny on main?

Alexandra Wilbraham

First published in Dutch translation: https://www.bbcbenelux.com/blog/?article=press

In most people, newspapers conjure up images of bold titles, eye-catching front-pages and bulky formats that are difficult to handle on morning commutes. For Mike Bartlett, however, his new BBC drama Press is all about the characters.

“We really hope [the audience] will fall in love with them", says the writer who scored a big hit with his medical drama Dr Foster, “I wanted [the show] to have that West Wing feel where you know it’s set in a specific workplace but you care most of all about the characters and what they’re going through.”

Press focuses on the newsrooms of The Herald, a left-leaning newspaper similar to The Guardian and The Post, the rival tabloid newspaper, both tweaking their front pages incessantly to achieve the biggest splash the next morning.

To prepare for the series, Mike Bartlett and the cast spent time at The Sun and The Guardian. The experience reshaped many of the cast’s preconceptions about the newspaper industry.

“I really enjoyed going to the real newspaper offices and seeing how they operate in a similar manner no matter what kind of newspaper they are,” says Brendan Cowell (Game of Thrones), who plays Peter Langley, editor at The Herald, “I liked the fact that […] [they] treat [topics like Syria and The Great British Bake Off] with equal seriousness.”

Charlotte Riley (Peaky Blinders, King Charles III) who plays Holly Evans, a former reporter turned deputy editor at the Herald, was "shocked at how tough the job is". Meeting journalists with a real passion, but who also "really do take their work home" helped inform Riley’s portrayal of her character.

“She’s pretty lonely. […] Being in the office brings her to life – it’s her raison d’etre. I think we were all interested in the personal cost of working in the profession and how hard it is to have a personal life when you do what these [reporters] do.”

Holly’s rival is the strangely irresistible Duncan Allen, Editor of the Post. Ben Chaplin (Apple Tree Yard) plays Allen whom he describes as “a little bit amoral”.

“It’s a fun role. He’svery persistent […] If your job is editing the best-selling newspaper in the country a lot of power comes with that. He justifies that by saying his newspaper can make a difference; I don’t think he worries too much about whether the difference is good or bad.”

Having pitched the original idea ten years ago, past hacking scandals and falls in print readership brought on by the digital age made Bartlett reconsider his approach to the drama.

“The show that was initially in my head was about quite a stable industry […] [But], there’s a revolution happening, and as a dramatist, it’s a wonderful world because you’ve got new people coming in, new ways of doing things. […] The public has a sense of what journalism is, but there’s a lot they don’t know and we want to show that side of it.”

Journalism has long provided fodder for exceptional drama, both in TV and film. Press, however, turns away from a nostalgic look at the industry, but places in the now, with all the challenges and possibilities it brings with it.