Category: TV Drama
Date: 12.09.2005
Printable version
Ray Winstone is to star as Sweeney Todd, the most notorious barber who ever practised his trade, in an original screenplay by Joshua St Johnston.
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Set in 18th century London, it is a dark and enthralling tale of love, obsession, murder, and ultimately redemption.
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Commissioned by Peter Fincham, Controller Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE, and Jane Tranter, Controller Drama Commissioning, it will be shown later this year.
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Actress Essie Davis (A Streetcar Named Desire, Girl With A Pearl Earring) will co-star as Mrs Lovett, a young lady who isn't too choosy about her men or the source of meat for her pie shop.
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Indeed, once Mrs Lovett is installed in a shop next to Sweeney's thriving Fleet Street business, the pair forge a complex and destructive partnership, and customers begin to disappear with alarming regularity.
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The film boasts a cast that includes: Tom Hardy (Band of Brothers, Black Hawk Down, Star Trek: The Nemesis) as Matthew Payne, an upstanding Bow Street Runner, who owes his life to Sweeney; David Warner (The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, Hornblower: Retribution) plays Sir John Fielding, author, politician and founder of the Bow Street Runners; and David Bradley (Blackpool, Filch in Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban) plays Sweeney Todd's malicious father.
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Eleven-year-old newcomer, Ben Walker, portrays Tobias, Sweeney's loyal yet unsuspecting apprentice.
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Sweeney Todd is set in the harsh streets of London in 1765 where life is not for the faint-hearted and only the fittest will survive.
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Living in the shadow of Newgate Prison, Sweeney Todd tries to carve out a quiet and simple life, until his past comes back to haunt him and he is unable to quell his inner demons.
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When body parts are found in the Fleet River, Sir John Fielding orders his Bow Street Runners to investigate; but even with the threat of capture surrounding him, Sweeney Todd is unable to run away from the monster inside.
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Indeed, his murderous spree only intensifies, threatening the lives of all those around him.
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Producer Gub Neal says: "Ray Winstone playing the 'Demon Barber of Fleet Street' is a performance not to be missed!
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"Joshua's script breaks new ground and elevates a myth that has been etched in the popular imagination into a tragic love story - a striking allegory about love, sex and death set in the 18th century."
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Jane Tranter, Controller Drama Commissioning, says: "In this boldly original reworking of a classic story, Sweeney Todd is a man struggling to escape his own destiny.
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"This is a gripping, authored and ambitious story which adds another, exciting and dangerous, flavour to the mix of drama on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE this year."
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Sweeney Todd is a BOX TV and Size 9 co-production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE and will shoot at Romania's leading studio production centre, MediaPro Pictures, situated outside of Bucharest. Sweeney Todd starts filming on August 29 2005.
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The film is written by Joshua St Johnston and marks his television-writing debut.
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The director is David Moore (Tom Brown's Schooldays, Wallis & Edward), with Gub Neal (Gunpowder Treason and Plot, Sunday) producing and Caroline Hewitt (Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Bright Young Things) co-producing.
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The Size 9 producer is Emma Kingsman-Lloyd (Ultimate Force, Holby City).
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The executive producers are: Justin Thomson-Glover and Patrick Irwin (BOX TV) and Ray Winstone and Michael Wiggs (Size 9 Productions).
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Lucy Richer (Joint Head of Independent Drama) is executive producing for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.
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Notes to Editors
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The programme makers:
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Box TV is a leading UK independent production company specialising in premium television drama and documentaries. Founded in 2000 by Gub Neal, Emmy-winning producer and former head of drama at Granada and Channel 4, Box has produced over Β£35m of international programming including the multi-award winning Sunday and Gunpowder, Treason And Plot.
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Box collaborates with other programme makers and broadcasters worldwide. Shortly to be seen on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO is No Direction Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ - Bob Dylan, the groundbreaking film directed by Martin Scorsese about Bob Dylan, in which the famously reticent singer songwriter talks candidly about his childhood, relationships and music. This two-part film is a co-production of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, Thirteen/WNET New York, PBS, Spitfire Pictures, Grey Water Park Productions, and Sikelia Productions in association with Box TV.
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Website: .
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Size 9 Productions is a UK-based TV production company formed by actor Ray Winstone, agent and founder of CAM Michael Wiggs, and producer Joshua St Johnston (She's Gone, Messiah II:Vengeance is Mine, Buried Treasure). Size 9's debut film, She's Gone, was shown on ITV1 last September.
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This year Ray Winstone is working with three of cinema's leading directors. He has just completed work on The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese, and Breaking & Entering with Anthony Minghella. Ray will go on to play the title role in Beowulf for Robert Zemeckis later this year. He is also starring in Vincent, a four-part drama for ITV which airs in the autumn.
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Website: .
