00:12He's so old.
00:14He didn't think about my feelings at all.
00:16Who's your best friend?
00:17My best friend doesn't sleep with a friend's daughter.
00:21I'm too old for you.
00:22Yeah, but you don't seem old.
00:23Ah, cool.
00:25Just fisting each other.
00:26I know you're angry.
00:28And you have every right to be.
00:30I'm kind of dreading that I'm going to have to spend every Christmas with you until I die.
00:34Are you okay?
00:35Yeah, great.
00:36Just planning Christmas.
00:39The aspect of motivations of character, but finding the right psychology, you know, both
00:45inwardly and outwardly as a sort of a perspective thing, it's about how you're perceived as well.
00:51And this is so true of each of these characters.
00:54Could you each talk about looking at your approach to them psychologically,
00:58but understanding where they're coming from on all points?
01:02What's good in this is they all have motivations and counter motivations.
01:08They're fighting in their own heads about anything.
01:11She loves her best friend, but also wants to destroy him.
01:15Yeah.
01:16You know, I'm falling in love with Izzy, but also know that it's wrong.
01:24There's, you know, it's good to have those things that are pushing against each other
01:27always when you're acting.
01:29Our friend died.
01:30He was in his 50s.
01:32Do you think that's old?
01:33We used to go out with each other.
01:35Long time ago.
01:36We've known each other for over 30 years.
01:38We went to the hacienda.
01:40She was on the podium giving her this, like this.
01:45These people you're standing with might be your best friends to your 50s.
01:50How old do you think we are?
01:53I don't know, like 60.
01:55F*** you!
01:5660?
01:56We don't look 60!
01:59They have no idea how cool we are.
02:02I'm a clothes designer.
02:04He invented the Nicole Richie Bob.
02:06He's Steve Wild.
02:08Be Steve Wild!
02:09Another Wild volumizer?
02:11You think you're going to be cool when you're older?
02:14Most of you won't be.
02:15Won't be, won't be, might be, won't be, won't be.
02:19Won't be.
02:20Might be, won't be.
02:21You know, tone is such an interesting thing in terms of, you know, setup, but also characters.
02:29Could you talk about it from looking at the overall story, Sophie, and working and how
02:34that needed to play?
02:35And then, obviously, Tom, come in and talk about, you know, the little ideas of, you
02:40know, the pieces of direction, because this has to be handled very specifically for it
02:45to work.
02:46Could you both talk about that, Sophie and then Tom?
02:49I mean, this, the tone of this show is really specific.
02:54It's, it's comedic, but it's also really poignant.
02:59And these characters are occasionally behaving badly, but they're all doing it from a place
03:05of love and trying to, to sort of, to, to sort of keep what's theirs.
03:13And, um, uh, and even though in most, at times, the plot can get kind of like, holy shit, where
03:21are we going now?
03:22I think emotionally, it's really authentic and the performances of Yali and Nicola and
03:30Jermaine are just, and, and Joel, like they're, they're so authentic and gorgeous and moving
03:37that hopefully the tone works.
03:40I, I loved it, it's like, once I started writing, the tone just kind of, just made itself known.
03:47You know, I didn't, I didn't have much control over it.
03:50It sounds like a weird magician.
03:53No, but it's true, it was so clear in the script, I think.
03:56But, you know, I think that the two main things that I was trying to bear in mind while directing
04:00it with a, well, one, that we wanted it to be as funny as possible, but while believing
04:05that this was happening.
04:06So, you know, we, we try various different takes, but it was always being like, well, it,
04:11you couldn't make a joke about everything.
04:13Um, and, and it's, yeah, yeah, making sure that the stakes felt really real.
04:17And then also, um, it's about trying to make the relationship between Steve and Izzy feel
04:23like really warm and loving and, and, and balanced and something that you could root for, because
04:28we want people to be on, on the side of all of the characters and to see where they're
04:32all coming from.
04:33But, um, uh, yeah, if you didn't buy their relationship, then you might just be like,
04:37break up already.
04:38Um.
04:38Yeah.
04:39I mean, I, for me, like watching them work together is just, it was so gorgeous.
04:46Like they just, they liked and respected each other so instantly and, uh, and I love, and
04:54I, and I was really keen for it not to be a story about an older man sort of, you
05:00know,
05:00using a, a younger woman in any way.
05:02Like, you know, these are two equals sort of needing both being lonely in a moment of time
05:09and finding that the other is kind of, you know, the one person that really gets them.
05:15You do realise this is probably a trap.
05:19Or she could be trying to work it out.
05:21Yeah.
05:22Yeah.
05:24No, you're right.
05:25This is definitely a trap.
05:27Yeah.
05:29Do you think Daniel's going to punch me?
05:32Right.
05:33As if Daniel would ever punch anyone.
05:35Huh.
05:38Maybe we could show her that this is a good thing.
05:39I like her best friend.
05:41And how nice that she already really, really loves the guy I'm dating.
05:45Hmm.
05:46Yeah.
05:49Okay.
05:51You nervous?
05:54Yeah.
05:57Terrified.
05:58Okay.
06:00But it also seems very practical.
06:03The choices all these people make, but the situations Sophie put your characters in,
06:08feel very real.
06:09Like I was telling her, like in the bar with you, Jermaine and Nicola, when she's like,
06:16what's where, wingmanning is so relatable to a lot of people.
06:20Yeah.
06:20And yet there's a scene, I think, in the flat with Yali and Jermaine where you, you guys,
06:26you're picking up like some of her underwear and she's in the bathroom and it's such a relatable
06:30thing.
06:31And, you know, can you talk about finding those details and playing those scenes because
06:36they feel lived in and organic for those certain reasons.
06:40Right.
06:41It just was all there.
06:42I mean, she, she wrote them so clearly for us to just put ourselves in it and just say
06:49the words and just do things.
06:51Yeah.
06:52And actually that scene where there, Steven is here in the flat was, was written slightly
06:57differently.
06:58Where I was, well, Steve was kind of getting sick of having someone in his life so close
07:04when he's been alone so long.
07:07But in the edits, it's a little different.
07:09Yeah.
07:10They changed it.
07:10Yeah.
07:11Were you guys able to make choices like that?
07:15Yeah.
07:16I mean, the, our director Tom was really open and really interested in trying lots of different
07:22versions of the scene.
07:24And whenever any of us made a suggestion, he always explored it, which made it really fun
07:32and collaborative.
07:33And, um, for me, because I've not done this for long, you know, sometimes, um, what I
07:40suggest doesn't work, but he was always open to trying.
07:43I think that's normal.
07:44We, we had lots of, we had lots of time on this.
07:46Oh yeah.
07:47Loads of time.
07:47We're twice as long as you usually would for, for a show of this length.
07:51So we, we could try things and fail and, and could try different variations, um, you
07:58know, of intensity or, or emotionality.
08:02Yeah.
08:02Sometimes we only did two scenes a day.
08:04Which is more like a film schedule.
08:06Yeah.
08:06I mean, I, I've never worked like that.
08:08I'm used to, you know, 11, 12 pages a day and suddenly we're doing three and a half.
08:12It was incredible.
08:14Actually.
08:14I think that's how we got to really, um, get into, you know, get the psychology.
08:20Yeah.
08:20The psychology that's all on the page, but we got to explore it because we had the time
08:24to explore it.
08:25That's a luxury.
08:27She's very busy.
08:29Emily.
08:30What?
08:31Emily.
08:31Yeah.
08:32What else did you think I was talking about?
08:40God, he is so old.
08:42He looks like my dad.
08:47Hiya.
08:48Darling!
08:49Does that mean that I'm in with a chance too?
08:52You could do all three generations.
08:55How wonderfully French of you.
09:00Lovely to see you again, Belle.
09:02Oh, afternoon.
09:04Oh.
09:06Oh.
09:14I'm so, so sorry.
09:16Hmm.
09:19So thoughtful.
09:24Yeah.
09:25Yeah.
09:25It's been very fun over the course of making this show just to get to know Sophie more and
09:29to see the sides of Sophie that are in Alice.
09:31Um, we went to a TV festival in Cannes and, um, just, there was some, you brought everyone
09:40onto the dance floor in this incredible way.
09:42Yeah.
09:42I just felt like I was watching Alice in series two, basically.
09:47Congratulations on the, on the best series there, by the way.
09:50That was, that's pretty cool.
09:51Oh, thank you.
09:52Um, but my, and my last question just for both of you, you know, it's about perspective
09:57and perception too, because each one of these characters has their own perspective of what
10:02they're doing, but their home perception about how they're living and how people see
10:06them.
10:06Could you talk about the ideas of perspective and perception for both of you, both from,
10:11you know, an over overseeing point of view, but also Tom from directing, because you have
10:16to give everybody's perspective and keep it sort of balanced in that way.
10:19And then I'll let you guys go.
10:22I think what Tom does so brilliantly is, is makes everything authentic.
10:30So, um, you know, no one's, no one's playing a line for the comedy.
10:38It's like, why, why are they saying that line?
10:42And also what, what each character's objective is in each scene.
10:47Yeah, that's true.
10:48Um, yeah, I felt so confident that the show was going to be funny, but that the thing I
10:54was paying the most attention to was, uh, yeah, just, just believing it and not overdoing
11:00the comedy and, you know, making it feel as natural and subtle as possible.
11:04But ultimately me and all the actors were working from just these brilliant scripts.
11:09Um, well done.
11:12What are you doing here?
11:14I slept with Steve.
11:18That's really funny.
11:20I know this must hurt mum.
11:21I see that.
11:22But I want to keep seeing him.
11:28Hi, Al.
11:29I hope you fall out of your window and get pierced in the heart by your railing.
11:34And that no one comes to your funeral.
11:37Which one of these says, sorry I had sex with your daughter?
11:40No, no, no!
11:43Yeah!
11:44I can't.
11:47No, no, no.
11:50Maryären, no!
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