91Èȱ¬

Lindsay Duncan, Imogen Poots, Toby Jones and Douglas Booth join Matt Smith in a new 91Èȱ¬ Two drama. Written by acclaimed playwright Kevin Elyot (My Night With Reg) and produced by Mammoth Screen through 91Èȱ¬ Wales, Christopher And His Kind chronicles the formative years of Christopher Isherwood.

Isherwood, played by Matt Smith (Doctor Who), escapes repressive English society and his suffocating relationship with his mother, Kathleen played by Lindsay Duncan (Criminal Justice, Thatcher, Under The Tuscan Sun) for the decadent – and politically unstable – world of Thirties Berlin.

Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later, Solitary Man) stars as Jean Ross, an aspiring actress and singer who provided Christopher with the inspiration for the Sally Bowles character of Cabaret fame.

Toby Jones (Frost/Nixon, W) plays Gerald Hamilton, a peculiar man who provided the inspiration for the title character in the celebrated Isherwood novel Mr Norris Changes Trains.

Pip Carter (Party Animals) plays Wystan Auden, the famous poet with a droll sense of humour who persuaded Christopher to join him in Berlin.

Douglas Booth (Worried About The Boy) plays Heinz, an unassuming street cleaner who Christopher meets and falls in love with during his time in Berlin.

The hedonistic Berlin cabaret scene is in full swing when a young and wide-eyed Christopher Isherwood arrives in the city, unable to speak a word of German, to stay with his close friend, Auden.

To Isherwood's reserved English sensibility, the city's thriving gay subculture is thrilling and intoxicating. But Christopher soon finds himself heartbroken after the failure of a hopeless love affair, and so sets out on a process of self-discovery.

This 90-minute film is directed by Geoffrey Sax (Tipping The Velvet) and produced by Celia Duval (Margot) for Mammoth Screen, with Michele Buck, Kevin Elyot and Damien Timmer as executive producers.

The drama was commissioned for 91Èȱ¬ Two by Janice Hadlow, Controller 91Èȱ¬ Two and Ben Stephenson, Controller of Drama commissioning with Eleanor Moran as 91Èȱ¬ executive producer and Piers Wenger, Head of Drama, 91Èȱ¬ Wales.

Christopher And His Kind is currently filming on location in Belfast and is being made with the assistance of Northern Ireland Screen.

SJP

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