Writing Austen - Part Two
Series Producer and Writer Peter Eryl Lloyd gives an account of the writing challenges behind Doctors’ special two parter: ‘Austenland’
May '13
Second draft now and things were beginning to take shape. We were scheduled to start production in July and already Publicity were asking questions about which days exactly we were shooting and where. But scriptwise the climax didn’t work and Lizzie wasn’t actively pursuing Darcy enough
One of the drawbacks of being Series Producer AND writer – I really needed to focus on the script, but production concerns have to be addressed too. The availability of period properties within travelling distance of South Birmingham are small. Soho House in Handsworth is wonderful, but exteriors would be impossible. Hanbury Hall in Worcestershire has the most stunning gardens, but we’d only be able to get inside the house after five o’clock (nightshoots?!). Hagley Hall has amazing interiors, but a bypass runs close to the grounds and we have enough traffic noise outside the Mill.
Still, things were beginning to fall into place – the Costume and Make-up designers were given ample warning; just as well, as both were taking two week holidays before pre-production. There was much discussion about wigs – would Matt Chambers need one? How bonkers could we go with Lady Catherine?
The actors were already aware of it – as soon as discussions occurred with Costume and Make-up, this was inevitable, as there were measurements to be taken and discussions to be had about hair length. And it’s good to create a bit of anticipation for the cast. They’d also need the script early, as some of them would need time to do a lot of learning: Jan, Adrian and particularly Dido have a lot of long and complicated speeches. Casting needed to find me the perfect Lizzie Bennet. Then, as the cast publicised the show on This Morning for the Soap Awards, Dido announced that we were doing Austen, and suddenly it was all horribly real. Can’t get out of it now …
The downside was that there were a couple of actors who I had to disappoint; Vineeta was not going to be in period costume – Dr Jas is my anchor to reality in the story and sadly she’s stuck in her consulting room for the duration. A shame, as originally Vineeta would have been a great Emma Woodhouse, but the role had to be cut. Ditto Dr Al. But at least they appeared – I had to apologise to Chris Walker as I couldn’t get him in the episode at all. I tried to make him a footman or a tramp, but since neither were speaking parts, it seemed insulting. With twelve cast members there are always going to be disappointments, and practically speaking – someone had to be working on the other filming blocks that were shooting simultaneously with this one!
I met with my Exec and filled him in on progress. I hesitatingly added that the episode was already running a bit long and wondered if it was possible to go to forty five minutes? He shook his head; ‘You may as well go for an hour’. Um … okay!
This wasn’t a problem script wise as there was a section with Mr Collins that I was quite keen to include, it would be great to give Adrian a bigger bite of the cherry, and I was already looking forward to seeing what he did with the scene. But if you’re shooting more material, you need more money – enough to pay for a crew and locations for a couple of extra days at least. It was a lovely idea, but such a late one that sadly there wasn’t the money available. Hopes dashed, I sulked for a while, regretting the long weekends I had spent extending it to an hour, and faced cutting it all down to twenty seven minutes.
Then I had a thought – something that both Elisabeth Dermot Walsh and producer Carol Harding had mentioned – why can’t it be a two parter? It would mean shunting all the episodes on a day (and we’d have Austen week and another day) but it would mean getting everything in. Was it worth it? Would people be interested in another day of bonnets? Was this more of a risk?
