"Single Father" BAFTA screening & Q/A

[canadian_turtle]

"Written by Mick Ford (Ashes To Ashes, William And Mary), Single Father is a touching yet humorous drama which tells the story of Dave (David Tennant), a photographer facing the seemingly impossible job of bringing up four kids alone after the sudden death of his wife, Rita (Laura Fraser). Things get even more complicated when he begins to fall in love with his wife's best friend, Sarah (played by Suranne Jones). Single Father asks how soon is too soon to fall in love again?"

I went to the BAFTA screening of the first episode of Single Father tonight and it was utterly amazing. And on a completely surperficial note: David on the BIG screen. Holy crap! I've done my best to try and remember what happened during the episode and decipher my notes as to what was said during the Q/A for those interested :)

Non spoilery info

• We got shown episode 1 (out of 4) which lasted one hour, as well as separate previews for the other episodes.
• There is no official air date yet, but it's on the BBC Autumn schedule.
• The episodes will air weekly (when someone asked when episode 2 will air the answer was "one week after episode 1").
• David uses his lovely Scottish accent in the series.
• Murray Gold has composed the music.
• I can warn you that it (episode one at least) is an absolute tearjerker.
• Rupert fucking Graves! Uh... yeah. I had no idea he would be in it, so I got excited when I found out XD He wasn't in the first episode but from the previews I gather he has a reasonably large part in the rest of the series.
• Laura Fraser plays Rita, which provides for a little Casanova reunion.

Q/A (no spoilers)
(not much though because I can't decipher most of my scribblings...)

• The Q/A was with Suranne Jones (Sarah), Sam Miller (director), Mick Ford (writer) and Nicola Shindler (Executive Producer)
• For the casting of the children the production team scouted local schools in Glasgow and drama workshops.
• The children cast for Evie, Paul and Ewan are a lot like the characters they portray.
• Often the cameras were still rolling without the cast being aware of it. This, to get a more natural look and slightly documentary style; to pull the audience in.
• Mick Ford wrote the original draft for Single Father 5 years ago, but it went through many changes since. Amongst others it went from 6 episodes to 4.
• Suranne had been talking about David with other people before shooting started and apparently David Morrissey calls David Tennant "The nicest man in the world" (yes, this is relevant to my interests).
• She also said "Not to praise David anymore, but.." and then continued to tell how amazing he was in amongst others the scene where Dave finds out about Rita's death.
• Suranne talked about a "family bonding" they did with the kids, which was that they all went bowling together. They had to make teams and all the kids wanted to be in David's team.
• The director mentioned how he'd occasionally tell David to play a scene another way (Ie angrier) but at the end of the day he'd always end up using the first cut, the one where David used his own interpretation of the scene.
• There are a lot of times where in the script the last part of an actor's line would be in brackets followed by upside down exclamation marks, indicating that the actor had the choice of using that part of the sentence or leaving it out.

Write up of the episode (=SPOILERS)

• Dave and Rita have three children together: Paul, Ewan and Evie.
• Both Dave and Rita have children from previous relationships. Lucy, Rita's teenage daughter, lives with them and Dave's oldest daughter lives with his ex-wife (who he's still friends with).
• Dave plays soccer and is the goal keeper of his team. He also rides a motor bike.
• Before the opening sequence we get shown moments before Rita's death and the accident itself (she's riding her bike and gets hit by a police car). During the moment she's tumbling through the air she mouths "I love you" and Dave (who's in his studio at that time so nowhere near her) says "I love you too".
• After the opening sequence it's one day before Rita's dead and we get to see Dave and Rita interact with their children on a normal day.
• The scene after that is a brief cut of what we saw before the opening followed by Dave and the children finding out (= heartbreaking). Sarah (Rita's best friend) helps out at the house in the first moments. At night, when the children are asleep, Dave takes a trip on his motor bike and gets pulled over by the cops because he's speeding. When they realise he's the husband of the woman that got killed by a police car earlier on the day they let him go.
• Rita keeps a diary and after her death Dave writes on the next blank page: "Today my love died at two past two".
• We don't get to see the funeral, instead we skip 10 weeks into the future to see how the family copes with it all (not well).
• Especially Lucy is having a hard time because she feels left out of the family (as Dave isn't her real father). There is one scene in particular where she confesses to Dave how she's been feeling which is absolutely heartbreaking. She starts skipping school and eventually runs away.
• Dave runs after Lucy but she manages to get on a bus before he catches her and he calls Sarah to look after the children while he tries to keep up with the bus. Eventually he has to give up and goes back home, where Sarah and Paul are calling Lucy's friends to see where she is. Dave retreats to the bathroom and absolutely breaks down (this scene is so well played, I can not mention enough how brilliant David is in it. He's without a doubt one of the most amazing emotional actors out there). Sarah finds him and tries to comfort him, and eventually they start to kiss...
• When Dave shows the children a photo of Rita to remember her the photo slowly turns into a flashback scene, which was really neatly done.
• It's not all drama, there are funny moments too. Such as when Dave is trying to photograph two toddlers dressed up as baby chicks in giant eggs and he holds a stuffed toy over the camera trying to get them to stop crying.
• He also tries to set up a tent in the garden for the children and utterly fails doing so (his excuse is that there are no instructions, when they are in fact printed on the inside of the tent roflmao).
• After the screening of the first episode there were brief previews for the episodes to come revealing some absolutely shocking twists, such as the possibility of Lucy's father (Rupert Graves) being the father to Evie, Paul and Ewan as well. And Evie walking in on Dave and Sarah having an intimate moment.



This was written down really rushed so sorry for any spelling errors... Let me know if you have any questions :D

Comments

[saveatardis.livejournal.com]

I got teary-eyed reading all this :( thank you for this!!!

[eskridge77.livejournal.com]

Okay. Got teary just reading the spoilers. And I wonder how long it will be before it's on BBC America...

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely thinking BAFTA nominations, though it may be a bit premature saying that after having only seen one episode :$

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

You're welcome <3

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I haven't heard about BBC America picking it up. PBS maybe for Masterpiece? (Or is that the same thing? I'm not American...)

[eskridge77.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the response... I found your story through the link @ develish1's WordPress page... :)

No, BBC America and PBS aren't the same, although I would love it if PBS did carry it. Much more likely to get the full episodes that way... PBS is the Public Broadcasting Service, and is member supported (also, corporate grants) which means no commercials and a certain flexibility with time slots!

Thanks, again! :D

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah I know PBS is the Public Broadcasting System, just wasn't sure if BBC America fell under it too. But I'm guessing from what you say BBC is a commercial channel over there? That really sucks about the cuts in episodes, not only is it really annoying but you're bound to miss something vital to the storyline along the way... I suppose worst case scenario there's always the DVD but that's going to be much further along the line still :\

[eidesg.livejournal.com]

You should see how BBCA butchers Doctor Who episodes for the time slots, so that they can air commercials...

BBCA is owned by BBC Worldwide, if I am correct...or is related to them. It is not a commercial channel, but carried on many cable systems and often one needs a premium package to get the channel. But, they do have more than their share of commercials.

PBS would be interesting for another reason...it sounds like the mini-series would be something that falls under the confines of Masterpiece Contemporary, the Masterpiece strand that DT hosted last year and is set to do so again this year. If it is picked up by them, it would be for 2011...and no one knows at this point if DT will host again next year. His return was not confirmed until much later this year than he was announced last year, leaving much wonder in the American fan community.

[eskridge77.livejournal.com]

Oh... don't get me started on what BBC America does to Doctor Who. I mean, seriously... *lol* Although, PBS runs them with the cuts as well, I think. First example that comes to mind is after the Dalek implodes in Season 1. I'm pretty sure that the real BBC episode goes to a clinch between Nine and Rose. If so, it wasn't there on BBC America nor on PBS.

I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for anything DT-ish on PBS!

[stlouisphile.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting! Can't wait to see this illegally on Utube.

How was the audience reception? Could you "tell" if they were DT fans? Was it a large cross-section of people in attendance? How'd you manage to get your tickets since I heard it sold out very quickly. Anyway glad you enjoyed it and gave us a darn good report to whet our appetite for our future favorite photographer.

dj

[kandy57.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for posting this. It has been so long since we have seen DT on any screen I am throwing myself at spoilers whenever I can :). I know I'm not waiting for Australian TV to get this - lucky I have relatives in the UK ... and yes, there is always the Tube of Ewe and other ... sources.

Another DVD to add to my collection eventually too :)

[sapphire-child.livejournal.com]

David Tennant using his Scottish accent, riding a motorbike, having awesome emotional scenes WITH Murray Gold doing the music?!

MY LIFE HAS BEEN MADE.

I cannot wait to see this! Thank you so much for the detailed write up! You're a legend mate!

[never-evil.livejournal.com]

• David uses his lovely Scottish accent in the series.
• Murray Gold has composed the music.

Seriously? I'm sold! So will refrain from reading the spoilers.

[barricaderugger.livejournal.com]

WTH??? I am soooooo gonna pay attention to that one!!

[morgaine-nicely.livejournal.com]

fortunately pbs doesn't cut stuf :) that's always nice

[harriet2010.livejournal.com]

Thrilled pink to read so many lovely, enthusiastic comments about SF. ***Thrilled***, I tell you! :) It's been sooo long since we've had some new David to be excited about. Trust him to make it worth the wait! Thanks for the great write-up. You've made a lot of people very happy to know as much as you've shared! I've madly keen to see DT and Casanova's Henriette acting together again. And can anyone tell me if the Sam Miller who's directing this is the same Sam who directed DT in 'Quatermass'?

[julie-izumi.livejournal.com]

Hiiii! Thank you for your great recap!
It must have been awesome! Can't wait to see it and David in a new thing!!!

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info on BBCA/PBS, I always wondered how it worked :)

I hope ir aires in the US sooner rather than later!

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Actually, aren't episodes on PBS one hour in total? The original episodes aired in the UK are as well so if they'd cut stuff out wouldn't they have a problem filling the time slot?

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

The whole row behind me were DW fans, which I know because they were loudly discussing DW Live and some conventions beforehand. I'm a DT fan too though, so it's all ok. Everyone was nice and quiet during the airing except for 1 annoying person sitting two seats away from me taking photographs >.> I mean really, recording was not allowed... So she got told off eventually. There were BAFTA members there as well and even the acterss who played Lucy Saxon apparently (though I didn't see her myself).

I just bought my ticket when I saw a link to the screening on Twitter. However I also told a friend about it and she didn't see the note until a few hours later and it said sold out then already. Having said that the theatre was maybe only 75% full... But I gather the empty seats were for BAFTA members who don't have to book so they can never know exactly how many will show.

Glad you enjoyed it =)

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I know, right? We were so spoiled over Christmas and then nothing for ages ;__;

Usually the DVD is region 2/4 for BBC anyway, isn't it? So you should be able to play it ok in Australia :D

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Haha you summed up the highlights perfectly.

You're welcome, I'm glad I was able to provide this info for the fans during the agonising long wait...

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Haha! The Q/A bit doesn't contain spoilers either if you haven't read it yet (just fun tid bids), only the write-up of the episode does :)

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I'm glad about the response it's gotten so far too! I mean my own impression of it doesn't have to be the same as what others think, but so far I hear nothing by great things.

Yeah I'm happy to share the info :D I don't often have the chance to but am always grateful when other people tell about these things, glad I was able to return the favour for once!

It wasn't mentioned but I do assume it was - as he said he worked with David before.

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

It was brilliant!! You're welcome ;)