Page 73 of Not Moving Out
‘I think, and correct me if I’m wrong here,’ said Jacinda B, senior communications officer. ‘What we’re trying to convey from a communications perspective is that we thinkHouse Sharedhas the potential to be a flagship programme for the BBC, and instead of the usual six episodes and a Christmas special format that historically most sitcoms tend to follow, we’d like to really expand it and take it further.’
‘Exactly,’ said Peter, still with a pain au chocolat in his hand. ‘The idea of it, of two people trapped in a marriage, under the same roof, but clearly still in love, but not, separated but together, and the daughter, Cold Water Club… the whole thing felt, to me at least, like it was such a wonderful concept that we wanted to see what you thought about making it bigger.’
‘Bigger?’ I asked.
‘Basically, in a nutshell, what we are suggesting is either to expand the number of episodes in a series, or, and I think this is really quite interesting, to make each episode longer,’ said Peter.
‘We’ll need time to think about this,’ said Carl. ‘It will require more time, money, and Joe will need some specifics on what exactly it is you’re after.’
‘Right, yes, of course,’ said Peter. ‘But I think I can safely say without a shadow of a doubt that we have the time, the money, and the specificity required to make this happen.’
I was completely blown away by the meeting because they were clearly already on board with the show and wanted more of it. In my head, it was already six episodes long, but perhaps we could expand it and either write more episodes or make each episode longer if that’s what they wanted. We spoke more about the specifics of the new expanded version of the script, and of what might actually happen, given it was now going to be bigger. There was talk of large amounts of money being offered to me to spend the next six months working with the BBC to develop the show. They were essentially offering me the keys to the BBC kingdom because they believed in the show and thought it could be something quite special.
I sat with Carl, who did his best to chip in with suggestions, and Carl and Peter were going to meet later in the week to discuss the details of the contract. All in all, the meeting was a triumph. Once all the coffee and pastries were gone, we wrapped up the meeting and it was time to leave, but Jasper had one last question for me.
‘I’m intrigued,’ said Jasper. ‘Do you see Kate and Dan getting back together at some point?’
‘I, umm, honestly don’t know. Perhaps, but it would depend on the direction of the show. Why do you ask?’
‘Because it seemed to me, reading the script, that the couple were still very much in love.’
‘But the whole point was that they were separated and trapped in this now loveless marriage,’ I replied. ‘Surely that came across in the script, too?’
‘I mean, yes, of course, but there was definitely still a lot of love,’ said Jasper.
‘I got the love, too,’ said Jacinda B.
‘Yes, me too!’ said Magda.
‘I mean obviously it’s your script,’ said Peter. ‘But it seemed pretty clear they still had feelings for each other.’
‘Deep-rooted feelings,’ said Jasper. ‘Hidden beneath the layers of resentment that had built up over the years, but yes, still very much there.’
‘Right, okay,’ I replied, confused and slightly bewildered that the love between the main protagonists was that clear. In my mind, I had made Dan and Kate – the fictional versions of Freya and myself – pretty much hate each other at the beginning, and then gradually over the arc of the first series, they began to have some feelings for each other again, but at no point did I think it was so overtly love. Had I added more love because that was how I really felt about Freya? Was I unloading all of my actual feelings for her into the script without even realising it? Was I that so fucking unaware of myself?
Outside the BBC with Carl, my mind was completely and utterly frazzled, and I had no idea what to think. Carl started talking about how wonderful it was, and that he would meet with Peter, and bash out the best possible deal for me, but it was definitely happening, and it was going to be really great. Finally, after years of professional failure and making no money, I was back in the game.
‘Carl?’ I said after he finished speaking.
‘Yes, mate.’
‘Do you think Dan and Kate are still in love?’
‘In the script?’
‘Yes, in the script.’
‘Well, yes. It’s obvious there’s still quite a bit of love there. In the script.’
‘And you didn’t think to tell me this?’
‘I mean, I thought you knew. You wrote the bloody thing.’
‘Yes, I did, didn’t I? The thing is, Carl, I think I was in love with Freya the whole time.’
‘I’m sure you were. Freya is great. Too good for the likes of you.’
‘Thanks, Carl.’
