"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

[sarah-1228.livejournal.com]

WTF at the last spoiler :o

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I know, right? D: I literally went "OMGWTF?!?!?" when I saw that bit.

[lea724.livejournal.com]

I didn't read the spoilers part of your post at all since I don't like to be spoiled (so thank you, btw, for separating them out! :) ), but your post just made me super super excited for this. Thank you! :)

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome! I absolutely adored the first episode, it was much better than I could have ever hoped for so I'm all excited now too and wanted to share my squee :D If you have any questions I can try to answer them without giving away spoilers XD

[develish1]

Thanks for this, I'm really looking forward to seeing this when it airs. It seems like we've been waiting forever.

hope you don't mind but I posted a link back to this over at tennant_love

http://community.livejournal.com/tennant_love/3602716.html

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I know! David was on television so much over Christmas/New Years but after that it's been such a long wait for something new... They said that it'd probably air soon so *crosses fingers*

[fairyfloss-love.livejournal.com]

Just reading the episode description made me tear up. I just know David will break my heart with that bathroom scene you described.

Thank you so much for sharing this!

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Oh God I couldn't keep it dry during that scene and I heard quite a few sniffles around me as well... it was utterly amazing though, but so heartbreaking ;___;

You're welcome.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

It can't be long now before we get an air date and start to see trailers!

Thanks so much for the details. Now it's back to waiting not so patiently to see it myself.

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I better hope not, I need the next episode! It's possible even worse to wait now I've seen how amazing the first episode was and seen the previews for the next episodes...

You're welcome :)

[michellemtsu.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can already tell I'm going to be sobbing mess during this! I am NOT a crier, but David always manages to get me. How does he do that? Thanks for sharing with us!

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I'm not a crier either, yet I teared up three times during the episode... David's absolutely brilliant with heavily emotional scenes </3

[cosmiccoz.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the update! Totally can't wait to see it. . .

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

You're welcome :)

[beachy-geek.livejournal.com]

Let's see...hurt/comfort, angst, children and an intimate moment. My overies are already doing the cha-cha! Thank you for posting this. And I'm so happy for our David, this sounds like a winner and certainly a contender come awards time.

[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 :$

[saveatardis.livejournal.com]

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

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

You're welcome <3

[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]

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...)

[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

[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 =)

[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 :)

[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

[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!

[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...

[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.

[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 :)

[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'?

[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.

[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]

It was brilliant!! You're welcome ;)

[tauriosiris.livejournal.com]

It was a great screening wasn't it? Think you remembered everything! Though it's Ewan not Owen :)

[tauriosiris.livejournal.com]

Oh one more thing, it's Rita who says "I love you" first, and Dave says "I love you too" in response. I actually thought that was really contrived. In a great script by Mick Ford it was an incredibly bad peice of writing, I thought.

[honeyfitz.livejournal.com]

I've tried to read most of this but avoiding spoilers - I don't think anything got through my filter XD

Sounds like a good event - I LOVE preview screenings and I've just got my BFI Membership through so I can see a lot more (hopefully). I'm looking forward to seeing Single Father, there are quite a few new dramas that look interesting over the next few months.

I like Suranne Jones on TV, but I was disappointed with her on stage. However, I think that was the director's issue, rather than hers XD

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

It's just the write-up of the episode (clearly marked at the bottom) that contains spoilers :)

Ohh a BFI membership sounds intruiging! Does it give you access to more screenings than the general public? Anything good coming up?

I actually think I haven't seen her in anything before... She seemes good in what I've seen from her in Single Father so far though :)

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

WHAT WHAT. YOU WENT TO THIS? I AM JEALOUS OF YOU.

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Dude, you knew this! I sent you the link as well but by the time you saw it it was sold out (which is why I texted you about the charity event in November the other day instead of just linking you on Twitter :P).

[barricaderugger.livejournal.com]

I finally understand the thing with men on motorcycles. It's only taken me 10 years to get it, but it has FINALLY clicked! Can't wait to see Single Father!!! Roll on October!!

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Haha ditto. DT can make it work... guuuuuh.

[spacepook.livejournal.com]

I cried reading the spoilers, then laughed at the photography part.

WTF at the last spoiler as well. So are Rita's children that Dave is "dad" for not his kids?!?!? PS "intimate moment"... This might be fun(ny).. ;)

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Basically when Dave is searching for Lucy's father, and finds him, he discovers that Rita was (occasionally? often?) still seeing this other man, meaning that the children Dave raised as his own (Paul, Ewan, Evie) might not biological be his either.