The Street - a new drama for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE
Jane Horrocks plays Angela
Looking for some extra-marital excitement, a temporary release from her safe, if not boring, marriage to Arthur (Daniel Ryan), Angela finds friend and neighbour Peter Harper (Shaun Dooley), only too happy to oblige.
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Together, they indulge in breakfast sessions of sex, chocolate
and escapism from the struggle and monotony of family life.
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But a driving
accident in the street involving Angela's lover throws her emotions
into turmoil and leaves her family devastated.
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"Angela is a frustrated housewife whose 15-year-old marriage has grown stale. She suddenly has a chance to have an affair and takes it," says the popular actress best remembered for her television role as Bubble in Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One's Absolutely Fabulous.
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"Things do get a bit raunchy but it's not Sharon Stone material," laughs Jane. "I always seem to get the parts involving sex and chocolate," she continues, reflecting on her previous role in Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet, alongside Jim Broadbent and Timothy Spall.
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"Shaun Dooley, who plays my lover, is very easy to work with and we just had a bit of giggle, really. In fact, he was a virgin and I broke him in - he'd never done a sex scene before on television," she giggles.
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"I've always greatly admired Jimmy McGovern's work and to be asked to do this is a huge honour," says Jane. "The stories are very real. I think Jimmy has done a fantastic job.
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"The Street tackles subjects which some writers might
think are boring, but Jimmy's made it politically and socially very interesting
- he's made it come alive."
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Oscar-nominated for her role as LV in the critically-acclaimed film Little Voice, Jane reveals that the movie still remains one of her favourites.
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"The best thing I've ever done, apart from The Street, is Little Voice," says the mother-of-two. "It
encapsulated all I can do best. It was a perfect job in that respect.
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"We were very near the Stars In Their Eyes set (filming took place at the Granada Studios in Manchester), and I wandered on set thinking, 'brilliant, I can do Joan Armatrading'. But they wouldn't let me!" she laughs.
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"It has been five years since I last worked in Manchester so it was also great being there again because it meant I could spend time with my parents and catch up with old friends."
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The Northern-born actress, who trained at Rada before attending the Royal Shakespeare Company, is joined by old friend Jim Broadbent who also stars in Jimmy McGovern's drama.
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"It was great to work with Jim Broadbent again. He is lovely and, for once, he wasn't playing my dad which felt a bit weird, actually!" she smiles. "I would love to do something more substantial with Jim because this was very brief, but it was great to catch up with him again."
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So what's next in the pipeline for the versatile actress? "I play a supermarket
manager who is elected Prime Minister in a new Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE drama series called The
Amazing Mrs Pritchard. I love the character and can't wait to get started," she
smiles.
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