Sparkhouse,
a new drama inspired by Wuthering Heights
'Oh
God, it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot
live without my soul!'
Wuthering Heights
Carol
Bolton is feisty, passionate and reckless. Life has dealt her a
raw deal.
She
lives in poverty-stricken Sparkhouse Farm with a drunken father,
Richard, but she is determined to protect those closest to her -
younger sister Lisa and her soul mate since childhood, Andrew Lawton.
Andrew
and Carol's love is not a teenage crush. Their passion is urgent,
powerful, enormous, like the landscape they share; the raw energy
of the wind, the awesome loneliness of the moors.
Yet
all of this is in danger of being destroyed when a Pandora's Box
of secrets and lies is forced open.
"The
themes are perennial," says Sparkhouse producer Derek Wax.
"The
battle between passionate love and economic necessity; following
your heart, or doing something expedient, or socially desirable.
"These
questions are the same in the 21st century as they were in the 19th,"
he argues.
"This
is a story that's been inspired by Wuthering Heights, but the plot
isn't the same - what you do have is two characters who are completely
in love and you get a sense of how intoxicating that can be."
Executive
producer Nicola Shindler explains: "This is a fantastic, epic
love story about two people who come from contrasting classes and
cultures.
"Sally
Wainwright came to us and said this was an idea she had always really,
really wanted to write. Although it was inspired by Wuthering Heights,
the parallels are not exact in any way.
"It
is very much set in the Yorkshire Moors that she knows well. It's
a good strong story and Sally's writing is original."
Gareth
Neame, the 大象传媒's Head of Independent Commissioning, says: "We
were delighted when Red Productions and Sally Wainwright came to
us with this idea.
"It's
a tremendous tale: modern, engaging, romantic, tragic and - in the
end - uplifting. We hope that this is just the beginning of a long
relationship between Sally and the 大象传媒."
Sally
explains: "Carol
is a character I've had in my head for a long time. The rest of
the story evolves around her, using Wuthering Heights as inspiration."
Because
Sally also wrote At Home With The Braithwaites, she had always had
Sarah Smart - who plays Virginia in the series - in mind for the
central character of Carol.
"She
inhabits the role of Carol totally," says Derek warmly. "The
best acting happens in her eyes, without any sense that she is 'acting'.
"Carol
has nothing of value in her life apart from her sister and her love
for Andrew. She has no social or domestic status, yet she's brave,
funny and strong.
She's
a real fighter and - when the chips are down - she'll fight for
what she wants and the one, fantastic thing in her life is her love
for Andrew. What she does is rooted in real passion."
The
object of Carol's passion required a young actor with the power
to grab the viewers' empathy, and the search ended with Joe McFadden.
"For
Andrew we needed someone who had to be strong, sexy and interesting
enough to engage a character as strong as Carol, but have sensitivity
and understand the sensitivity of romance," explains Nicola.
Derek
Wax agrees: "There was a big casting session for Andrew and
Joe just knocked us out, he was fantastically truthful. He also
had this youthful energy and immediacy to be able to play an 18-year-old."
Director
Robin Sheppard says: "The first time I saw Joe and Sarah in
a room together they were like two peas in a pod. There was chemistry,
sparks between them and that's the most important thing to see on
screen."
Notes to Editors
The
Sparkhouse press pack is available here, in . You may require Adobe Acrobat Software to read PDF files
which can be obtained .
Press
pack (48 KB)
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