New behind the scenes photos of Richard as Joe Burkett and Michelle Keegan as Maya Stern in Fool Me Once shared by the costume designer Jacky Levy.

@quaystreetproductions: ✨ the Nolly team showing us how it’s done @ the #itvx launch! ✨💅🏼 #photobooth ALL SMILES AS WE RAMP UP TO TX. Let the count down begin! Nolly will launch on ITVX on February 2nd.

“An oral history of Queer as Folk, the groundbreaking gay series that changed British TV for good.”

By Jack King, 17 April 2024.

New article from the British GQ, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Queer as Folk. Aidan and the rest of the cast, as well as creator Russell T Davies, discuss making the show, and its legacy.

••••••

Some highlights from Aidan:

On being cast as Stuart: “I’d been working as an actor probably for about twelve years... I started trying to do it for a living straight out of school.

I did the play Mojo at the Royal Court… [later] I did the film of Mojo, and I played a different role in the film than in the play. I think Charles McDougall, who directed Queer as Folk, and Nicola Shindler had gone to a screening of Mojo. There’s a scene where I was walking down the street with a shirt open, in Soho in 1958, which sold them the idea… I [also] think Christopher Eccleston put me in the director’s mind for Queer as Folk.”

••••••

On playing a gay character as a straight man: “There’s a lot of assumption that someone is heterosexual, or that they’re not, you know what I mean. But it certainly wasn’t an issue for me. I don’t think sexual preference defines a person to me. I’m not afraid of it, or people, or what they’re into; I’m not afraid of anything, really. I grew up in the theatre. I was going to youth theatre when I was 13. I knew many gay men and women. This was part of my everyday working life.”

••••••

On working with Charlie Hunnam, who played Nathan: “I thought it was incredibly brave to take that on. I wasn’t really sure what his background was, or what kind of family he came from, or what kind of flack he might get. But to do what he did… Well, I don’t know, is there any difference from doing it when you’re 28? I suppose [there] is, in that you have a little bit more experience, and you know who you are.”

“[Charlie] was learning on the job. But I’d never be going out of my way to try and mentor somebody, you know, or tell them how to do things, or not.”

••••••

On the rimming scene in the first episode: “I mean, it was just a scene, you know. [Laughs.] We were careful about it. Nowadays they’d have intimacy coordinators, and all this kind of stuff… The important thing is to make a plan, to talk it through with everyone, to make sure what everyone’s comfortable with.”

••••••

On controversially depicting a relationship between a 15-year-old boy and a 29-year-old man: “I don’t remember much about the [reaction to it] at all. It wasn’t even something that I thought about too much. If it was now, they would have a fucking conniption — it wouldn’t even get made. I remember some people going on about it, but not too much. It was more just general outrage.”

••••••

On how Queer as Folk helped his career: “I've had a good, fulfilling, artistically satisfying career, and all the rest of it. But it's built on [Queer as Folk], I think.”

New project for Sophie and another Policewoman Role I love to see it ♥️ can't wait to see this on ITV

https://deadline.com/2023/02/its-a-sin-ep-nicola-shindler-quay-street-itv-after-the-flood-1235261631/?fbclid=IwAR1wmQtwL9-tNs53HBcG1EaLWXdQCHKy40sZ5vH10DJOBjl_-rssyawjmz8

Disney+ Orders Thiller From ‘The Power of the Dog’ & ‘It’s A Sin’ EPs – Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Disney+ is moving into the contemporary UK thriller space with the greenlight of a series based on Alex Dahl’s parents-worst-nightmare novel Playdate. The Power of the Dog and It’s a Sin producers Tanya Seghatchian, John Woodward and Nicola Shindler are combining to produce the five-parter, which comes from the decorated trio’s Brightstar and Quay Street Productions and will commence…

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Former soap star lands lead role in Netflix thriller – You won't believe who

Michelle Keegan is set to star in a new thriller for Netflix called "Fool Me Once." The series is based on Harlan Coben's best-selling novel of the same name and follows the story of former special forces soldier Maya who, after her husband's murder, begins to suspect that everything she thought she knew about him was a lie. Keegan will play the lead role of Maya and said she was "absolutely thrilled" to be a part of the project. "The character of Maya is complex, intriguing and grounded in realism, all of which drew me to the script," she added. The six-part series will be produced by RED Production Company, the team behind popular shows such as "Happy Valley" and "Years and Years." The production company's CEO, Nicola Shindler, said she was "delighted" to be working with Netflix on the project and praised Keegan's talent. Coben, who is also an executive producer on the series, said he was "beyond excited" to see his novel brought to life on screen. "And to have the talented Michelle Keegan bringing the character of Maya to life is a dream come true," he added. "Fool Me Once" is set to begin filming in Manchester later this year and will be directed by Julia Ford, who has previously worked on shows such as "Safe" and "Riviera." No release date has been announced yet. Overall, this news update highlights Michelle Keegan's new role in the upcoming Netflix series "Fool Me Once," which is based on Harlan Coben's best-selling novel. The six-part series will be produced by RED Production Company and directed by Julia Ford. The announcement has been met with excitement from Coben, who is an executive producer on the project, as well as Keegan herself, who said she was "absolutely thrilled" to be playing the lead role of Maya. While no release date has been announced yet, the news is sure to generate buzz among fans of Coben's work and those who enjoy thrilling television dramas. Read the full article

ITV commissions six part mystery thriller, After the Flood

ITV commissions six part mystery thriller, After the Flood. Starring Sophie Rundle, Philip Glenister, Lorraine Ashbourne, Nicholas Gleaves, Jonas Armstrong, Matt Stokoe and Jacqueline Boatswain. Produced by Nicola Shindler’s Quay Street Productions and written by acclaimed screenwriter Mick Ford **With BritBox International as co-production partners** ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill has…

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Nicola Shindler wins a BAFTA

Nicola Shindler wins a BAFTA

@NicolaShindler @REDProductionCo @BAFTA Congratulations Nicola. 17 years since ‘Sparkhouse’ and you are still the same brilliant person you were back then. https://t.co/2sTKoWUqCt

— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) May 13, 2019

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Can’t wait for so much great TV, this year! 😊👏🏻

@augustusprew: Had the best time talking all things Nolly with my TV fam today 🥰😍😘 Come on Nolly!!! Coming 2nd Feb on @itvxofficial

“Queer as Folk” Reboot in the Works

Bravo is developing a new Queer as Folk series. Stephen Dunn will write, direct, and serve as an executive producer of the new series. This new version will feature new characters in a new setting.

Russell T. Davies, who created the UK version, is also on-board as an executive producer along with Red Production's Nicola Shindler, who was executive producer of the original series, and Quantity Entertainment’s Lee Eisenberg. 

Variety broke the news.

(Image from 1999′s Queer as Folk)

Richard Armitage interview for Radio Times (31/12/21)

Full transcript under cut

It’s hard to believe that Netflix nail-biter The Stranger only came out last year. The first collaboration between Harlan Coben and Richard Armitage dropped on the streaming service at the tail-end of January 2020, making a big splash upon its initial launch and no doubt picking up some extra viewers as the nation gradually retreated indoors. Fans were quick to demand a direct follow-up, which sadly never materialised, but a spiritual successor arrives on New Year’s Eve in the form of Stay Close.

“I would love to have gone back to do season two, but it was a closed story,” Armitage tells RadioTimes.com. “So when the opportunity came to do another one with the same team, same writer – different cast, obviously – it was a no brainer. I said ‘yes’ immediately and then started reading the book, and just thought, ‘here we go again’. It’s a complete page-turner.”

Both stories involve an individual’s seemingly perfect life being thrown into chaos by buried secrets, but Cush Jumbo (The Beast Must Die) portrays the polished middle-class suburbanite this time around. That side of Armitage has been firmly locked away as he inhabits the role of dishevelled photographer Ray Levine, whose once-promising life was reduced to shambles following a devastating trauma 17 years ago, from which he has never recovered.

“It’s where me and the character are so poles apart, because actually I move on from things really quickly,” the North & South star reveals. “I can pick myself up, compartmentalise it and move on. I mean, you do that all the time as an actor. When you’re faced with massive disappointments when you don’t get work, you just forget about it and you find yourself in a forward trajectory. But Ray hasn’t been able to do that.”

Armitage attributes this stagnation to the memory problems Ray has experienced since that fateful night and the fact that he has nobody “to guide him” through the recovery process. His understanding of the character is clear and confident, having carried out exhaustive research in preparation for Stay Close, creating a “rich” biography for Ray that extends far beyond what is laid out in the source material. Not only did this inform his performance, but it also proved an invaluable resource when it came to crafting the look of certain scenes.

“The production designer would email me and say, ‘what do you think Ray’s flat looks like? What kind of things does he have?’ And of course, I had the answers, because I’d done a lot of the background work,” he explains. “So when I got to set, it’s almost like nothing needed to be touched, it was so perfect down to the half-finished Pot Noodles on the couch and the cheap white bread that he was eating… In-between takes, I would just flop down on the couch as if it was my apartment because it felt so right, which I just love.”

The disparity between Ray and The Stranger‘s Adam Price is quite deliberate, as the team at Red Production Company were keen to win Armitage back, but “concerned” he would feel the material was “too close” in style and tone. The actor speaks highly of his collaborators there, including founder Nicola Shindler, describing them as “good friends” that he hopes to work with again, but adds the caveat that their next project is unlikely to be yet another Harlan Coben adaptation.

“I’m always looking to do something radically different to what I’ve done before,” he begins. “I’d be really surprised, [as] much as I like Harlan and how much he likes me, I think it would be pushing our luck to do a third. But never say never.”

Netflix has certainly invested heavily in the mystery author, brokering a deal in 2018 that will see up to 14 of his novels turned into streaming shows or films over the next few years. So far, these adaptations have been spread across Europe, with productions setting up shop in the UK, Poland, Spain and France, despite most of the books being set around the United States. Armitage credits Coben’s understanding of human behaviour for why these stories have resonated so strongly all over the globe, while he also hails Netflix for bringing the consumption of international content into the mainstream.

“These shows are not curated specifically for Spain or for Eastern Europe [or] whatever it is… they’re not embargoed,” he continues. “Sometimes in the past you’d think, ‘well, that’s never going to work in America, so we won’t sell it to America’. With Netflix, anything goes anywhere. So we’re watching stuff from all over the world and whether it’s got subtitles or not, I think people are just fascinated with how it works.

“It makes it more interesting if it’s not in your language. [When] I watched Money Heist, Netflix dubbed it for me by default, and I spent a day looking for how to watch it in the original language… because the voice is so connected to the person. I’ve got great people that dub me all over the world, but I want to hear the actor’s real voice. I don’t want to hear another actor voicing their words in English; it’s like you’re removing such a huge chunk of the character, particularly in high drama.”

Armitage himself has been part of this global push. Not only has he just finished work on a Spanish film, but earlier this year he appeared in South Korean blockbuster Space Sweepers, which landed on Netflix seven months before Squid Game brought increased attention to the country’s cultural output. It’s the latest in a long line of genre work, having previously played Marvel’s Wolverine in two audio dramas, as well as bagging key roles in animated fantasy series Castlevania, psychological horror Hannibal, and Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.

“As a teenager, I was really into fantasy, magic, and then science fiction, so the Tolkien world, the CS Lewis world, [and] then sort of moved into Isaac Asimov and the early science fiction writers,” he recalls. “So when my agent came to me and said, ‘Look, they’re scouting the world for the cast of The Hobbit’, I was immediately engaged because I knew those books, I knew the world and I was almost salivating.

“So when somebody comes to me with a brilliant science fiction script, like Space Sweepers, I’m immediately transported and my brain goes into that place. It doesn’t necessarily put you in line for any awards or anything like that, because they’re often sidelined in terms of critical acclaim. But in terms of an audience and a practitioner, I love it, so I dive straight in… The whole green screen thing doesn’t bother me, because my brain is so full of the imagery anyway, I can project myself into that world.”

Armitage agrees that sci-fi and fantasy is deserving of more recognition on the awards circuit, naming The Hobbit co-star Andy Serkis as someone who “should have won an Oscar by now” for his work in the field of motion capture. Nevertheless, he’s far from done with either genre, revealing he’s keeping an eye out for an as-yet-unrealised dream project.

“Science fiction is still an untapped fantasy of my own. I’d love to do a really, really well executed comprehensive science fiction series, which is not so far away from us [in terms of realism],” he says, explaining his ideal project would be closer in tone to Black Mirror than Star Trek. “So if the door opens for me to take part in those things, I’ll jump.”