 |
Eyes
Down - Angela Clarke
After
years as an actress, during which time she performed alongside such
luminaries as Ian McKellen and starred in such perennial favourites
as Educating Rita, Angela Clarke decided to fulfil a life-long ambition
and turn her hand to writing.
The
result is Eyes Down, the new comedy for BBC ONE starring Paul O'Grady
as Ray, the embittered manager of a bingo club.
"I
had my son and I was living back at home," recalls Liverpool
born Angela, whose sister is the actress and comedian Margi Clarke
and whose brother is Frank Clarke, the writer of Letter to Brezhnev.
"When
you've got a new born baby, you're stuck at home, which is fantastic,
yet it means that you have so much time on your hands.
"While
the baby was napping I used to scribble little ideas down to keep
myself amused.
"I
did it purely for my own benefit - it was more of a hobby than anything
else, really. I didn't know where I was going to go with it."
Angela
remembers how she heard through her agent about a BBC New Writing
Scheme called The Writer's Room, which was looking for women comedy
writers.
There
were 250 applicants, but Angela was awarded one of the final ten
places. Over
the course of four intensive days, Eyes Down was born.
"I
thought the script I had was dark and dramatic," she says,
"but everyone else found it hilariously funny. There was only
one di-lemma: I really didn't have an idea of where I should set
Eyes Down.
"All
I had was the one character, who had come to me while my son had
been asleep - that character was Mary. The problem was that I didn't
know where I would place her.
"And
I thought a bingo hall would be lovely. You see, nothing changes
in a bingo hall - the same people go there, they sit in the same
seats, and they don't like anything to change - it's almost like
a religious routine.
"Although,
that's the one thing they go for - to change their life forever.
And I liked that paradox of the bingo world.
"I
knew I had struck gold. I didn't labour over it at all. It just
came to me really quickly.
"I
had the first episode written in two and a half weeks. It was like
popping a champagne cork."
Angela
was truly up and running, although there were a few anxious moments
yet.
"There
was a deadline for when everyone's script was supposed to be in,
so we all sent our scripts off and waited to hear back from the
BBC.
"I
got a call saying that the script had been shown to the head of
comedy at the BBC, and she had really liked it.
"So
I wrote another episode and then we did a read through of the first
episode.
"Lorraine
Heggessey, the Controller of BBC ONE, came to see it and she called
back a few weeks later to say that she loved it and they wanted
to commission
a series.
"So
from the workshop in September, it was commissioned in February
or March."
Angela,
as a first-time writer, had her work cut out. She also developed
some rather unorthodox writing techniques.
"I
did some of the writing at home, but not too much - there was so
much going on and the house is never empty.
"I
prefer to write in Kirkby Library which is packed with other people,
but I managed to tune everyone else out when I needed to.
"I
liked it for the discipline. I felt as though the books were going
to rub off on me through osmosis."
Despite
the free-flowing gags and patter of Eyes Down, Angela says that
the staff of the Kirkby Library never had to ask her to quieten
down.
"I
look really depressed when I'm writing, so I wasn't laughing my
head off. I looked so miserable that the other people in the library
must have thought that I was writing my will and not leaving anything
to anyone."
Bingo
runs in Angela's blood and, as such, was the natural institution
on which to base Eyes Down.
"I
love bingo. My family are all avid bingo players.
"I
don't play a lot, but if I want to see the family I pop down to
the local bingo hall in Kirkby and we'll have a drink together.
"My
aunties go avidly. They play with a full six bingo tickets which,
believe me, is a hell of a lot of numbers - but they play it upside
down. So if number 19 is called, they look for number 61.
"They've
played it for so many years that they do it for a little twist,
just to stop them from getting bored."
Angela
- who hails Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett and David Renwick as her
comedy idols - says Eyes Down is a very traditional comedy, but
one which cuts close to the bone.
"I
haven't tried to water it down," she says.
"I
wanted to stay true to the characters I've got, so maybe some people
will be shocked, but I haven't tried to be crude with it. I've just
been honest.
"Anything
that is shocking comes from Mary's lips, which I think is more palatable
because she's an old woman.
"Sandy,
the young, pregnant 19-year-old, is very innocent and very green."
All
of the characters came to Angela within hours, and the part of Pamela,
the wheelchair user sex kitten with whom Bobby has a series of flings,
is no exception.
"I
didn't approach it from a politically correct or un-politically
correct point of view. I just thought up a character who happened
to be in a wheelchair.
"It
is quite nice having Pamela in the script. There's no other female
character in Eyes Down who is the sex symbol.
"And
although she's a wheelchair user, she is very in control of who
she gets and what she wants and what she does.
"She
isn't a victim in any way, shape or form. She has a full life and
is really enjoying it. She will dress up the wheelchair to match
what outfit she has on at any one time."
So
now that Angela has the success of Eyes Down under her belt, is
she thinking about making a permanent career change?
"I
always knew I wanted to perform, and acting seemed like the most
obvious thing," Angela says.
"I
loved it and did some wonderful jobs. I played some fantastic theatres
and worked with some great people.
"But
I have never acted in something and come away from it feeling complete.
I always knew that there was something I had to do.
"Once
I got pregnant, I knew that my life had changed and starting to
write seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
"I
played Collette Daley in two series of Soldier, Soldier, and I always
used to beef up my script. I looked at my script and thought, 'Oh,
that's rubbish'.
"So
I gave myself and the rest of the cast some laugh lines.
"Acting
was great because I enjoyed being on set and having a laugh with
the actors, but the bit where they said 'Action' and 'Cut' seemed
to get in the way.
"I
knew I was in the right business, but I didn't know whether I was
in the right vein of the business.
"Now
I feel as though I'm really doing what I've always wanted and needed
to do."
Back
to main press release
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
