Lilies by Heidi Thomas - a new drama series starts Friday 12 January 2007 at 9pm on 91Èȱ¬ One
Introduction
Lilies by acclaimed screenwriter Heidi Thomas (I Capture The Castle, Madam Bovary) is an original eight-part drama series for 91Èȱ¬ One by World Productions for 91Èȱ¬ Northern Ireland, combining the peerless experience of renowned producer, Tony Garnett (Cathy Come 91Èȱ¬, Kes, This Life) with the fresh, raw energy of brand new acting talent.
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Tough, sexy, funny and heart-breaking, the series details the lives of Iris, May and Ruby Moss - sisters coming of age in a dockland terraced house. Familial love sustains them, and their fortunes are bound to those of their brother and their father.
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Jane Tranter, 91Èȱ¬ Controller of Drama Commissioning, says: "Heidi Thomas is a unique and original writing talent, combining in Lilies a meticulous eye for period detail and resonance, and a wonderfully modern wit, emotional intelligence and warmth.
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"Her eight-part take on the 1920s is fresh, bold and entertaining, offering a drama to 91Èȱ¬ One full of energy, empathy and optimism."
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Set in the years immediately following the First World War, Lilies pulls no punches in its storytelling.
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It depicts a sensual, vivid and sometimes savage universe – where life is lived on the breadline yet fuelled by various kinds of love. All three girls must make their own way in the world.
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Iris (Catherine Tyldesley) makes chocolates, Ruby (Kerrie Hayes) sells, and sometimes models, corsets, and May played by Leanne Rowe (Olivier Twist and Boudica) - seduced by the trappings of a world beyond her grasp - earns her living as a parlour maid.
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In the course of the series each of the sisters tastes passion for the first time and their lives, newly launched, are changed forever.
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Series author Heidi Thomas says: "Lilies features three wonderful emerging young talents who beat off fierce competition to win their first lead television roles.
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"We needed girls who mirrored our characters: they had to be spirited, passionate, strong and pure. We were also looking for luminous, old-fashioned beauty. Catherine, Kerrie and Leanne have these qualities in spades; they are all going to be major stars."
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Key cast includes the acclaimed actor Brian McCardie (star of Rob Roy, Kidnapped, Murphy's Law and the Bafta Scotland 2006 award-winning drama Low Winter Sun) as Dadda, the family's charismatic and mercurial father.
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Having married very young Dadda is now widowed and his struggle to nurture his unruly children proves both moving and comic.
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Daniel Rigby, another sensational newcomer, will star as the family's troubled brother Billy.
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Stephen Moyer is Mr Brazendale; Scot Williams is Father Melia; Iain McKee is Frank Gadney and Georgia Taylor (Blackpool, Coronation Street) makes a guest appearance in episode one as Phyllis Cook, Ruby's friend.
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In later episodes Kenneth Cranham (The Lavender List, Line Of Beauty) stars as a health inspector set to tear the community apart.
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And Pam Ferris (Rosemary And Thyme, Jane Eyre) is Alice the clairvoyant and mother of Miss Bird, played by Gillian Kearney (Hope And Glory, Shameless) who develops a close liaison with Dadda Moss.
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Filmed in Liverpool, Lilies is a World/91Èȱ¬ NI production for 91Èȱ¬ One.
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The directors are David Moore, Roger Goldby, Ferdinand Fairfax and Brian Kelly.
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The producer is Chrissy Skinns and executive producers are Heidi Thomas and Tony Garnett (World productions).
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AF
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