England Expects
BBC ONE
Introduction
Steven
Mackintosh stars in England Expects
Steven Mackintosh stars in a hard-hitting drama for
BBC ONE about a man whose life spirals out of control, drawing him back
to his far right past.
Writer Frank Deasy says: "This is the story of one man's
disintegration but it is also about the way the demonisation of Islam
in the UK is feeding a far right in Britain that is as racist and violent
as it ever was."
Mackintosh plays Ray, a responsible family man, fiercely
protective of his daughter Nikki who lives with his estranged wife.
Ray is a control freak whose life begins to fall apart
when he develops a sexual obsession with Alison, one of the traders
in the Canary Wharf investment bank where he works as a security guard.
At the same time, he discovers that his beloved Nikki
has been sucked into the world of heroin abuse prevalent on the estate
where she lives.
As his rigid existence disintegrates, Ray finds himself
drawn back to people from his far right past, a move which can only
lead to disaster.
England Expects also stars Keith Barron,
Preeya Kalidas, Nitin Ganatra, Susan
Vidler and Camille Corduri.
England Expects is written by Frank Deasy (Real Men,
Captives, Looking After Jo Jo), directed by Tony Smith (Tutti Fruitti,
Virtuoso, Oi for England) and produced by award-winning film maker Ruth
Caleb.
Nick Ryan, who spent six years researching amongst groups
on the far right for his book Homeland: Into a World of Hate, acted
as consultant and creative producer.
The soundtrack is by Nitin Sawhney.
Steven Mackintosh most recently appeared in the film
The Mother and as George Boleyn in BBC TWO's The Other Boleyn Girl.
He won an RTS award for his leading role as Davey Younger
in BBC ONE's Care, a major award-winning film directed by Antonia Bird
about one man's attempts to come to terms with the abuse he experienced
in a children's home.
Caleb says: "This is a portrait of a man on the verge
of a breakdown. As his previously well-ordered life slips away from
him he loses control and his judgement deserts him, making him vulnerable
to exploitation by old acquaintances.
"It shows how the pressures of modern day living
can lead us to places where we don't want to go."
Jane Tranter, Controller Drama Commissioning, says:
"It's fitting that Ruth Caleb received the Alan Clarke Award for Creative
Contribution to Television at the Baftas three years ago.
"England Expects is part of a film making tradition
which goes back to Alan Clarke's best known films, The Firm and Made
in Britain, which anatomised racism and violence in Britain during the
1980s.
"Like them, England Expects boasts an extraordinarily
powerful and chilling central performance. Steven Mackintosh's Ray combines
rigid self-control with a lethal, barely suppressed anger. He is a man
strung out to breaking point.
"England Expects - and the forthcoming film May 33rd
- are challenging dramas which attempt to engage a mainstream audience
in controversial political and social issues in contemporary Britain
today.
"They follow Out of Control
and Care - both of which were produced by Ruth Caleb - and, most recently,
Holy Cross."
Caleb's recent credits include Tomorrow La Scala! which
debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and was shown on BBC TWO last autumn;
Dominic Savage's Out of Control, which won the Michael Powell Award
for Best British Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival;
and the critically-acclaimed Rehab, The Other Boleyn Girl, Nice Girl
and When I Was 12.
Her other recent credits include Care, which won the
Prix Italia for Best Drama (singles) as well as the Bafta Award for
Best Single Drama in 2001.
At the same awards, Caleb received the prestigious Alan
Clarke Award for Creative Contribution to Television.
England Expects is a BBC Scotland production for BBC
ONE. The executive producers are Barbara McKissack, Laura Mackie and
Frank Deasy.
England Expects is on BBC ONE on Monday 5 April
2004 at 9.00pm, concluding at 10.35pm.
Printable version