Drop Dead Gorgeous returns on
´óÏó´«Ã½ Three
Production notes
As Ashley's rise to modelling fame means more money, celebrity and glitz, the making of the second series stepped up a gear in terms of the glamour stakes, as producer Juliet Charlesworth explains:
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"In this series the Webb family find themselves on the way up. New house, new clothes, Paris, Milan you name it. Our great joy this series was costume, and how much fun we had dressing our cast.
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"Sinead Moynihan was over the moon to find out she now had to dress in the latest and most fashionable clothes, styling herself on Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss and Sienna Miller.
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"Kathryn Hunt loved the fact she looked gorgeous every single day – but she just couldn't let go of her velour leisure suit, believing even Pauline (just like the rest of us) needs to get into her scruffs when she arrives home!"
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Despite the excitement of Ashley's new superstar status, the second series of Drop Dead Gorgeous sees the disintegration of the previously happy Webb family, as Ashley's rise to fame seems to have become something of a poisoned chalice as Juliet explains:
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"Pauline has hung up her pinny for good and taken Murray up on his job offer. She really loves the high life in the glitzy model agency in Manchester, but Terry, played by the fantastic Connor McIntyre, struggles to keep the family together and keep Pauline's feet on the ground.
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"He's worried about just about everything. His job at the garage is under threat, and all she can do is spend money, look at new houses and brush problems under the carpet – Pauline is determined not to let anyone stop them from living the dream."
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Connor McIntyre agrees and explains how his character has changed from the first series: "Terry doesn't know quite what's happened to him. When I was filming some of the scenes I got the impression he was kind of in limbo land, he just can't understand what the hell is going on with him and his family.
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"There's a line when Pauline says 'I think you're depressed' and I really hit on that – she's bang on. He seems constantly stressed and you never really see him cracking his usual jokes – not only is his family and marriage falling apart his best mate's got terminal cancer."
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Drop Dead Gorgeous is unusual in that it explores just what happens to those around someone catapulted into fame and fortune, and how it can be horribly destructive to those nearest and dearest.
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Connor continues: "I was so pleased when I saw the scripts for the first time; it's about time something was said about situations similar to the Webbs'. You can't look at it through rose-tinted glasses and that old saying of money can't buy you happiness, is spot on – you have to be careful what you ask for as you might just get it and not like what happens next."
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Kathryn Hunt, who plays the determined super mum Pauline, explains that her character has changed a great deal since the start of series one.
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"When we first met her, she was this hard-working dinner lady, loving mum and wife, with a string of great mates; but now she is this hard-nosed, high-flying, model scouting agent.
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"Pauline's actions totally reflect the concept that if you're given an opportunity you have to grab it with both hands which Pauline does and she just keeps running! She compromises a lot of her old values, although she convinces herself she's just doing what's best for her daughter and her family."
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She continues: "Pauline's loving her new life, with the fancy clothes and flash house and just forgets about what's really important, making Terry feel left behind and totally demoted from his position as head of the family. She's earning the money, making all the decisions and he just can't deal with it.
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"All the time she's convincing herself that what she's doing is best for Ashley and her family. She's on this road travelling at 100mph and everything's a blur as she goes past it. I can't help but feel sorry for her.
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"As the new series opens, everything that seemed so exciting and glamorous is actually cutting her off from everything that's close to her – her marriage of 21 years has broken down, her friends treat her like a stranger and her kids are growing up and moving on without her."
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Producer Juliet had her work cut out for her, when a four-legged extra joined the cast as Murray's faithful companion: "I opened the first page of the first script and the very first word was Brutus – Murray's beautiful Chihuahua dog.
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"Across the series the dog had to smile at the wedding, look happy as he was reunited with Murray, look sad as he moved home, sit in the office, jump out of his bed and run to the television as the theme tune started for The Wright Stuff, snarl at Cathy Mac (well who wouldn't) and finally dance at the wedding which actually involved a gold lame papoose whilst Murray and Fabios did a well-rehearsed dance."
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Lee Boardman (Murray Priestman) takes up the story: "I have to admit I'm not much of an animal lover and when Fabios and I did our wedding dance I had that papoose strapped to my chest for three days and let me tell you, it really stank by the end!
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"I had a whole list of questions for Juliet when I heard about the scene – what would happen if the dog was sick, bit me or had an accident! So we lined the papoose with nappies – although I must give Brutus his due as he was very well behaved throughout."
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Every producer knows you have to be foolish or barking mad to begin your shoot in March, especially when it's a glamorous, over-the-top wedding. As Juliet explains: "The wind was so bad we had to ban the use of wraps and hats, and ended up having to cut some exterior scenes because you could see the actors' teeth chattering and tears rolling down their cheeks as they were wind whipped!"
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Night shots in howling gales were no better: "We were in the midst of a series of very long night shoots in Runcorn – which culminated in a huge and massively important argument between Pauline and Terry.
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"There we were there, in the depth of the night, rain lashing down and no shelter to be found. Kate Hunt who plays Pauline and Connor who plays Terry offered to do the scene for real on the promenade in the rain (which by now had actually reached typhoon status in Runcorn), and yes our Dubbing Editor did tell me how good the rain machine looked when he saw the final version!"
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Carmel Morgan, Head Writer, received rave reviews for the quality of the writing for the first series and Lee Boardman can see just why that was: "The first series was fantastic; but Carmel wrote it before she'd met us all. So for series two she knows us all really well, and wrote the dialogue to match our personalities and what we had turned the characters into."
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He continues: "Carmel is honestly the best writer I've ever had the good fortune of working with and has written me the single greatest part I'll probably ever play in my life. She's got a real love affair with the Murray character and some of the lines I get to say are unbelievable – in fact pretty much all of them are spot on."
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He explains how Carmel seems to have tailor-made the part for him: "Carmel seemed to really like what I did with the character last year. Murray is, of course, gay and there is obviously a real flamboyance about him, but it's all to do with his personality rather than his sexuality."
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Sinead Moynihan, who plays Ashley Webb, is another one full of praise for the standard of writing: "The scripts are so well written. There are so many stories going on which is what keeps it so fast-paced. It's not just concentrating on one personal story, there are so many narrative strands going on all the way through."
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Linzey Cocker, who plays green-eyed twin Jade, explains how the storyline between the twins has moved on since the first series:
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"There is a lot of rivalry still between the two of them, although it's all one sided – Jade just can't get over how successful her sister is and all the attention and excitement which goes with it. The more successful Ash becomes the more twisted and unhappy Jade becomes – it's really sad actually as they used to be so close."
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Juliet Charlesworth elaborates on the sibling rivalry:
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"Ashley still can't forgive Jade for sleeping with her first boyfriend Hardeep while Jade can't forgive Ashley for having the whole world revolve around her. But, as the second series continues, Ashley comes to realise that it's actually Jade who really does have the better life without the huge responsibilities Ash has.
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"Her life is a whirlwind of getting up early, juggling school work and modelling, coming home late, getting her beauty sleep and being the Webb family cash cow. The family have completely grown apart and it's actually all because of her and her success without any of it being directly her fault."
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Sinead agrees: "The friendship that Ashley and Jade used to have just isn't really there anymore; they used to be best friends, which I think makes it so sad.
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"Ashley's really moved on since the last series; she's more confident and although she really does try to put her family first, there are so many nightmare situations going on around her, as a direct result of her success. She takes all of this on board and grows up a lot towards the end of the series."
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The girls laugh about what it was like to film their volatile scenes, as Sinead explains: "We actually really love the arguing – it's so exciting! It never affects our relationship off-screen as we get on so well in real life, but seriously we can't wait for those scenes. I think we'd secretly have loved to have actually had a really physical fight scene!"
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Sarah Jayne Dunn joins the cast of Drop Dead Gorgeous as bitchy receptionist Justine at Slique Agency: "It was just great to come onto something that I'd heard so much about.
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"Justine is a fantastic part to play as she is totally new to the show and didn't have any baggage, which meant I could put my stamp on the character. We got to wear great clothes and the relationship I had with Pauline, who was effectively my boss, was hysterical!"
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Andy Knott is also a new member of the cast, playing Ashley's private tutor/secret lover Ben McIntyre. He explains how their controversial relationship unfolds:
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"Ben's an intelligent guy. He's got a good career at the school where Ash and Jade are pupils, yet he knows he and Ashley have feelings for each other and is desperately trying to fight them. Eventually the inevitable happens and they start this illicit affair until they're found out and Terry beats the living daylights out of him."
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Connor McIntyre's a big guy, and his character gives Ben such a beating, that Andy had to have a lot of make up to make it look realistic: "I had to spend over an hour in the make up chair, so that the injuries I would have received from someone like Terry kicking the life out of me looked real. I honestly looked like I was on my last legs when I stepped out of the trailer!"
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He is full of admiration for the fact that the first series of Drop Dead Gorgeous was Sinead's acting debut: "I can't imagine what it must have been like for Sinead; acting is all I've ever known I started when I was about eight so although I'm only 27 I've been acting for 18 years and it's in my blood.
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"Even now I still get first day at school syndrome, so for her it must have been really scary. She had nothing to compare it to so it must have been a really daunting task for her, but she is such a pro – really impressive."
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