Sorted - new drama series for 91Èȱ¬ ONE
Starts Tuesday 18 July, 9.00pm
Introduction
Hugo Speer, Neil Dudgeon, Dean
Lennox Kelly, Cal Macaninch, Will
Mellor and Mark Womack star as six postmen - workmates and friends who share each other's lives – in Sorted, a new series for 91Èȱ¬
ONE.
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Tracy-Ann Oberman also joins the cast in her first major TV series since leaving EastEnders.
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Set in Manchester and written by Danny
Brocklehurst, Sorted lifts the lid on the complicated, funny and emotive lives of this motley gang; exposing their secrets, passions and fears and delving into their lives, loves, work, family and everything in between. But above all, it's about being mates.
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Producer Steve Lightfoot (No Angels, Casualty) says: "The warmth, wit and camaraderie of these very ordinary blokes ensures they can see each other through whatever life throws at them. It's very real, with powerful, emotional storylines which will hook viewers in to their world.
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"The sorting office is where the boys come together at the start of every day. They're a tight knit group, but with their shift finishing in the afternoon, there's plenty of time to see what they get up to away from the Post Office.
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"There are storylines which run throughout the series
but each episode focuses in on one of the six."
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Sorted is the first six-part major series from writer Danny Brocklehurst, whose previous credits include Clocking Off, Shameless and The Stretford Wives.
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Danny Brocklehurst explains: "What this was supposed to be was very much in
that Clocking Off or The Lakes kind of vein of telling stories about people
who actually – other
than in soaps – don't
make it onto television that often.
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"It's about ordinary, working-class lives. I wanted to tell stories with dignity and humanity and truth about ordinary people, and even though the stories are not always life and death, they are really important to those characters.
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"I think that there's not enough of that type of telly on these days," Danny continues. "People want to sit down at the end of the day and watch something that they see a bit of themselves in."
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And he welcomed the chance to write a series predominantly about men. "It's been really refreshing because you can tap into that side of you that you understand – because obviously I am a man! I've never really written blokey blokes before in this kind of way.
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"There are thousands of postmen in the UK they're part of everyone's lives.
Since I started working on the series I notice them everywhere.
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"I interviewed a lot of postmen just to try and get a flavour of the world and to try and really understand it and how it all works.
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"I knew nothing about this before, even though I have
an uncle who's a postman, but I got told some funny little stories about
things that happened; one of which made it into the show - the battle
of the radios in episode one. That's
from real life."
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Sorted was filmed in Stockport. The six-part series is directed by Iain
B Macdonald (Bodies, Hotel Babylon) and Marc Jobst (Casualty,
North Face). The executive producer is Sally Haynes.
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Who's Who
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Charlie King is played by Hugo Speer (Bleak
House). Charlie is the manager and best friends with Harry. But
he's not quite one of the lads any more and his actions soon put him even more
on the outside.
With a burgeoning property empire on the side, he thinks he's
destined for better things and it seems that loyalty is not his strong suit.
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Harry is played by Neil Dudgeon (The Street).
Married for 20 years to Kathy (Eva Pope) his life is turned
upside down when he saves the life of Roisin (Maria Doyle Kennedy)
while delivering mail.
There is an unmistakeable frisson
between the two. Then his wife Kathy is involved in a serious car crash
dragging a carefully-kept secret into the open.
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Dex is played Dean Lennox Kelly (Shameless).
Dean is easy going and everybody's friend but when new recruit Jack spurns his
attempts to make him one of the lads, his suspicions are aroused.
Away
from the Post Office he's living with girlfriend Amy (Tracy-Ann
Oberman) and
playing Dad to her kids, but are they ready for the next step?
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Radge, played by Cal Macaninch (Warriors), is father to 12-year-old son Ryan and
old enough to know better. But his life is one long round of parties, pints
and pulling birds.
When things go wrong at Ryan's school he is forced to
reassess their relationship and come to terms with something he has kept
from his son.
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Barmpot is played by Will Mellor (Casualty, Two Pints Of
Lager And A Packet Of Crisps). He is a left-wing idealist, who is not so secretly
in love with Nancy (Nina Sosanya) from the canteen.
Unfortunately his affections
are not returned and his other attempts at romance don't go so well either.
When his principles lead to a campaign of intimidation against him, the lads
get together to sort it out.
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Jack is played by Mark Womack (Murphy's Law). He's the new guy on the frame
but he's not interested in making friends as he's desperate to hide his
past from his new workmates.
But he gradually gets close to Nancy and his
past catches up with him.
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