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 Carrie and Barry
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Carrie & Barry series two
Starts in October on 91Èȱ¬ ONE
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Cast and characters
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Neil Morrissey is Barry
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Although long identified with sitcom work, Carrie & Barry is only the second sitcom Neil has done after Men Behaving Badly.
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Almost inevitably perhaps, first time around, people drew parallels between the characters of Tony and Barry – comparisons they should be able to put behind them now.
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Simon [Ney - writer] comments: "Barry doesn't remind me much of Tony at all, apart from the alarming physical resemblance. Barry is bright and a rounded human being who knows what's going wrong in his life (Tony rarely did, which is why he was probably happier than Barry).
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"The civilising hand of women is apparent in Barry, I think – he's been married twice, he's got a challenging daughter, whereas Tony was addicted to maleness."
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Neil Morrissey enjoys playing Barry: "Lots of different things happen in this series, such as having to deal with your daughter having sex, especially with the lodger next door, and the issue of his losing his driving licence, and Carrie finding out she's adopted – quite a lot going on, and that runs through the whole series.
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"The narrative is very natural and as a result more problems come their way. The fun is watching people flounder, and we tend to flounder quite a lot this time round."
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He continues: "My daughter's boyfriend is bad news to me, but to anyone else in the normal world he is a successful, young, handsome cutie. Whilst I think he's a tosser, Carrie thinks he's really nice and quite attractive too."
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He adds: "Mind you, they are like all good families, weathering the storm and seeing things for what they really are – every person has to cope with upsets and things going wrong in life, or what looks like wrong but it's actually just a new turn in life.
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"To me, it felt quite different from the first series, because it was written almost naturalistically but still with lots of humour and warmth, and everything you would expect from Carrie & Barry if you watched the first series. I definitely had to do a bit more acting!
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"There is a heavy dose of pathos, but the opposite reaction is hilarious, so it's very funny."
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He continues: "Barry and Carrie are very happily married, absolutely in love and co-dependent in a really cool way. They adore each other, are completely confident with each other, and if an episode was ever written where there was any infidelity, it would destroy them both.
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"Problems that arise are to do with what's going on around them rather than to do with their relationship. The series has got a lot of warmth."
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He concludes: "When I finished filming Carrie & Barry I went out to Jordan on a trip of a lifetime with my girlfriend Emma, which was bonkers. We were making a documentary for Sky One following in the footsteps of TE Lawrence - we were out on camels in the middle of nowhere for six days, eight hours a day, hanging out with the Bedouin."
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Claire Rushbrook is Carrie
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Claire Rushbrook is best known for her starring roles in Linda Green and Secrets & Lies. Carrie & Barry was her first situation comedy, but she feels completely relaxed in front of the studio audience now.
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Sue Vertue [producer] laughs: "Claire loved the audience – she felt really comfortable this time round and enjoyed playing along with them and pulling faces behind Neil's back."
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Claire agrees: "I found recording so much easier this time round. And I enjoyed the fact that there were lots of scenes with lots of us in them. Kirk, for example, has almost become part of the family now. He has his own key, he's always around and we end up dealing with his sexual problems too."
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She continues: "Barry is having problems coming to terms with Sinead's relationship with her new boyfriend, who she actually thinks is quite nice, and attractive too. But she doesn't like to see Barry upset and alpha-maled out of the equation, and it's also deeply unsettling because she really is quite happy."
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Claire adds: "I am biased, but I think that Carrie is lovely. She's really warm and loving and funny and strong, but she is not afraid to be vulnerable and she enjoys her happy marriage and a happy life, really."
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Was the role was a bit less demanding this time in the bedroom acting department? Claire laughs: "There is less sexual behaviour on screen – this series has got more into the relationship between us."
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Mark Williams is Kirk
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Kirk, Barry's best friend, is played by Neil's old friend Mark Williams.
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Sue [Vertue] had no doubt about their relationship in real life coming across: "You can really feel that deep friendship there, which means they can be the kind of friends who niggle each other. Barry and Kirk have also known each other for ages. There's a real familiarity between them, both on and off the screen."
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Simon [Nye] was struck by the parallel with the casting in Men Behaving Badly: "Neil and Martin Clunes were old friends before they starred in Men Behaving Badly together, and I think that showed on the screen just as it does with Neil and Mark."
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Sue continues: "The character of Kirk has evolved: he's brighter and is pretty well-read. He clearly spends a lot of his free time on the internet and therefore has lots of fairly useless facts at his fingertips."
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Mark comments: "Kirk is a selection of confusions really. He's got no filters and doesn't think before he speaks. But he's also got a great life force. He wears shorts all the time and no socks because he can't be bothered with all that, and football shirts. He's very active and interested in loads of stuff, but a bit frustrated, clearly, especially in the trouser department."
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Michelle Gomez is Michelle
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Carrie's best friend and fellow beautician Michelle is played by Scottish-born actress Michelle Gomez. Michelle is probably best known to television audiences for her role in the cult Channel 4 comedy drama series The Book Group in which she played Janice McCann, one of three unhappy European footballers' wives in a mismatched reading group.
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She also starred in the innovative Channel 4 comedy drama series, Green Wing. A second series was in production at the same time as Carrie & Barry.
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Michelle comments: "The relationship between Carrie and Michelle is really well observed on Simon's part, because when you have been old friends for a long time, all the barriers are down and you can just say anything to each other. You can even be p*ssed off with each other and there is still a friendship there. I loved working with Claire, as well, as it was just so easy."
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Beryl [Vertue - executive producer] comments: "Michelle is quite sharp-tongued but also likeable and sympathetic, and Michelle Gomez has struck just the right note. She is very funny, but you also sense beneath the acid tongue a vulnerability, which is why she and Carrie are such good friends."
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Sue [Vertue] adds: "Their very different characters come over on the screen. Michelle is much harder, straight down the line, quite acerbic and very funny."
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Simon [Nye] adds: "As a character, Michelle is one of those unpredictable people, which is nice to see on screen but a bit scary if she is looking after you, especially in a beauty salon!"
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Sarah Quintrell is Sinead
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Barry's step-daughter Sinead is altogether more sunny and settled in this second series, as Sue [Vertue] explains: "Sinead has a boyfriend and is much happier, which is not necessarily a good thing for Carrie.
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"She is also a lot more feisty and there is plenty of scope there for that terribly strong male thing about fathers and their daughters where they won't admit they might be having sex. Adrian likes to rile Barry because he knows what it is doing to him."
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Beryl [Vertue] adds: "Sinead is much more her own person because she has now got a job and a uniform, which she feels is quite important, and gives her a strong sense of identity; and she also has a boyfriend, which has brought another source of irritation, really, for Barry. His little girl, his little princess, as he is prone to call her."
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Sarah Quintrell was just a year out of drama school when she landed the role of Sinead: "It was daunting but also really exciting to have a regular role with so many talented people. It's a fantastic opportunity, and people keep telling me I look like Neil, which is weird!"
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