The love affair between 1960s supermodel Jean Shrimpton (played by Karen Gillan) and photographer David Bailey (played by Aneurin Barnard) is explored in We’ll Take Manhattan, a one-off ninety-minute period drama due to be broadcast on BBC Four on Thursday 26 January 2012. The story is set in 1962 and tells how a Vogue photo shoot in New York brings together the two young people, who fall in love, misbehave and inadvertently define the style of the 1960s.
Bailey, a young and visionary photographer, insisted on using the unconventional model Shrimpton on an important photo shoot for Vogue against the wishes of fashion editor, Lady Clare Rendlesham (played by Helen McCrory) and made startling, original photographs.
Actors in We’ll Take Manhattan
Karen Gillan is best known for her continuing role as Amy Pond in Doctor Who but her first TV appearance was as Teri Cotter in the Rebus episode “Question of Blood” in 2006. She played various characters in The Kevin Bishop Show from 2008 to 2009 and was Coll in 2009’s The Well.
Welsh actor Aneurin Barnard’s TV career mostly comprises guest roles in the likes of Casualty, Doctors and Y Pris. On stage, he won a Laurence Olivier Award for playing Melchor in Spring Awakening in 2010. And he is about to appear as Adam in the upcoming horror film Guinea Pigs.
Helen McCrory won a best actress Bafta Award for playing Jo in the 1995 film Streetlife, a role that also earned her a Silver Nymph at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival. These days, she is better known for her role as Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. She has also worked with Karen Gillan before, when she appeared as Rosanna in the Doctor Who episode “The Vampires of Venice”. Her first recurring role was back in 1996 as Nicola Pascoe in The Fragile Heart. Other roles have included Rose Fitzgerald in North Square, Mary Freeman in In a Land of Plenty, Rose Davies in The Jury, Kate Dickens in Dickens, Barbara Villiers, the Countess of Castlemaine, in Charles II: The Power & the Passion, Rachel Price in Messiah: The Harrowing, Amanda Puyer in Life and Cherie Blair in The Special Relationship. And she is filming as Julia Grant in the upcoming TV series To Appomattox.
Team Behind We’ll Take Manhattan
The drama was produced by Kudos Film & Television for BBC Four. It was written and directed by John McKay and produced by Rebecca Hodgson. The executive producers were Claire Parker, John McKay and Ruth Kenley-Letts for Kudos Film & Television and Lucy Richer for the BBC. It was commissioned by Richard Klein, controller of BBC Four, and Ben Stephenson, controller of BBC Drama. The programme was co-financed by Ovation Channel in the USA.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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