Us got in just under the wire. This new four-part British comedy drama finished filming in several beautiful locations across Europe just before the pandemic struck and closed the world down.
Adapted by David Nicholls from his own best-selling novel of the same name, the drama focuses on Douglas Petersen (Tom Hollander), a devoted family man who is blindsided when his wife Connie (Saskia Reeves) informs him that she thinks their marriage is over.
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Saskia Reeves and Tom Hollander play a married couple on a European holiday in the comedy drama Us.
This occurs just before they are about to embark on a long-planned, but hectic grand tour of the artistic high points of Europe with their teenage son Albie (Tom Taylor).
Nicholls, 53, says, “When we made this drama, we had no idea that the pandemic would happen and that the family’s trip would now seem nostalgic.”
Us was shot in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Venice. Such a production would simply be impossible now.
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Hollander, who is also executive producer on the drama, reflects that, “We had a different crew in every country. All of that is inconceivable now in the Covid world. Every time you moved country, you’d have to quarantine for two weeks.”
The writer reveals some of the challenges presented by such a wide-ranging international shoot.
“Us was originally conceived as a road-movie in novel form, a holiday that turns into a quest through some of the greatest cities in the world.”
But, Nicholls carries on, “Words on the page aren’t subject to schedules and budgets, and the endlessly shifting settings of Us are an organisational nightmare for TV production – all those hotels, receptions and art galleries, the crowded tourist sites, dawn starts and finishes.
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Saskia Reeves, Tom Taylor and Tom Hollander portray a family experiencing the artistic high points of Europe.jpg
“Few words are more chilling for a production team than ‘Exterior. Venice. Night’. But I’m delighted with the way in which the team have captured Europe on film, not just the beauty of these places, but the frustration, the sweat and stress of constant movement. The Petersens are not relaxed travellers and if something can go wrong, it will. But Us is a love-letter to Europe, too, and I hope we’ve captured that on screen.”
Hollander, who has also starred in such popular dramas as Baptiste and The Night Manager, expands on the conflict at the heart of Us.
“It is actually a very familiar story which I think a lot of people will be able to identify with. Douglas is a man whose wife wants to leave him, but he doesn’t want to be left.
“His son Albie gets on much better with his mother than he does with his father. Albie is about to go to art college and they have spent months planning an art tour of Europe.
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Connie (Saskia Reeves) and Douglas (Tom Hollander) are a married couple whose relationship is on shaky ground.
“Douglas is fairly conflicted about the idea, as he isn’t sure he wants to go on holiday with someone who might want to leave him.”
However, the actor continues, “He decides that the best way of fighting for his wife is to go on the holiday, with the mission of making his marriage survive.
“It’s an opportunity for Douglas to try to prove to Connie what a wonderful man he is, and it’s a chance for him to resolve things with Albie, all of which goes wrong pretty quickly.”
It makes for an absorbing comedy drama. For all that, Nicholls acknowledges that, “Family stories are hard to tell on screen. Without the twists and turns of the thriller, the medical drama or the whodunit, events have to turn on a look, a smile, an ill-judged joke or a misunderstanding.
“Despite the grandeur of the backdrop, Us is a chamber piece, often a two- or three-hander, about a family facing the possibility of life apart. Yes, it’s about regret and loss and the spectre of loneliness, but I hope we’ve made something funny and uplifting, too, something emotional and affecting that will have viewers recognising themselves and those around them, as one of Us.”
Hollander outlines what viewers might expect from Us.
“It’s a rom-com in reverse. It’s really about a break-up rather than them getting together. It almost sounds a rather depressing premise, but it really isn’t. It has a particular humour to it, which comes from David’s writing.
“It’s not a story without hope. It’s a story about hope.”
Us, TVNZ 1, starts Friday January 8.
