A NEW dark comedy partly filmed in the Bradford district will air this week.
Scenes for Boat Story were shot at St Ives Estate in Harden back in February.
The series starts with characters Samuel and Janet walking their dogs on a bleak, windswept beach in Yorkshire.
They exchange some routine pleasantries, but when Samuel’s white Pomeranian runs over, barking, with a beard soaked in blood, both their lives are irrevocably tipped upside down.
The strangers discover a fishing trawler washed up on the beach, and with it, two dead bodies and a haul of cocaine. Their spur-of-the-moment decision to snatch the illicit cargo entangles them in a web of deceit, mafia retribution and murder. One they may not escape alive.
The BBC One series is the directorial debut of brothers, screenwriters and producers Harry and Jack Williams, the duo behind The Missing and its spin-off Baptiste.
Paterson Joseph and Daisy Haggard take the lead as Samuel and Janet, respectively.
The stellar lineup also includes The Thick of It’s Joanna Scanlan, Baptiste’s Tcheky Karyo – as sinister mafia boss, The Tailor – and Rise of the Footsoldier’s Craig Fairbrass.
“So many episodes just took me completely by surprise,” says Joseph, 59, known for Peep Show and Noughts + Crosses.
“It’s really exciting to open a script and feel like even I don’t understand what’s about to happen. There’s also just surprises that are designed to f*** you up.”
Scanlan, 62, said of the brothers: “Their laser focus on creating as many twists and turns for an audience is quite unusual.
“I’ve never worked with writers who are so prepared to be creative, really, genuinely, massively creative during the shoot. So I think they’re very brave and they take their own line and they give us actors a lot of fun because we have to be on our toes. They see in us things we don’t see in ourselves.”
“Reading the scripts was really exciting because you couldn’t predict it,” added Haggard, 45, best known for Breeders and Back To Life.
After filming took place at St Ives, Pam Laking, chair of the Friends of St Ives Estate, said: “It’s an interesting day for St Ives and a good day in its history.
“It’s going to be interesting to see it on the programme. It’s really good to have the filming taking place here.
“The production company have made a donation towards a garden which will mean people will benefit from it for a long time.
“St Ives Estate is full of interesting buildings. This filming helps put St Ives Estate on the map.”
Boat Story comes to BBC One Sunday November 19.
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