Married Single Other

Babs’ life is anything but simple. Her marriage is on the rocks and her teenage daughter, is well, a teenager.

Babs is Lillie’s best friend. Without Lillie she would be lost. They met when Lillie looked after her on her first day at school while the other girls were still deciding whether her nickname should be Baps or Boobera.

Babs and Lillie were teenage mums together. Lillie because she knew instantly that Eddie was her man and wanted to be a young mother, Babs because she was drunk, horny and didn’t like the feel of latex.

Babs fell in love with and married Richard Trench, Dickie to his numerous friends.  Never have two people been more sexually compatible. And Babs loves sex.  Unfortunately she’s having doubts about Dickie. His epic laziness and addiction to the internet has left the couple hopelessly in debt.  Babs has clawed her way towards an Open University Psychology qualification and a new life as a counsellor.  She loves him, but now she has a parachute she may just use it.

She may be a child psychologist but Babs struggles as a mum are huge. Her teenage daughter, Gina, is her kryptonite. At all other times she is clever, sardonic and rather sophisticated, but confronted with her offspring she is petulant and utterly unreasonable…just like Gina.

If Dickie designed himself a website it would have to be called www.slowmotiondisaster.com

Dickie is married to Babs and loves her completely, but his innate laziness and impulsive ideas do less than impress. As a result his marriage is crumbling around him. Sex is the one thing he is really good at, and the one thing that keeps Babs coming back for more.

Dickie is not really a dad to Gina, more a laid back older brother with a carefree attitude to parenting.

Essentially, Dickie is a big, muscular lay-about. His easy charm is mostly employed to give him an easy life.

Dickie infuriates Babs because he has spent every penny he has ever earned on…stuff. Stuff with no use to anyone. Loveable Dickie has bankrupted the whole family in an entirely unlovable way.

His great (though sedentary) passion in life is the interwebulator. But he’s the world’s least successful web designer. He has a stunning talent for clicking and dragging, married to an unerring ability to seek out what is least commercial and dedicate himself to it.

Dickie creates the sites that interest him with no thought given to those that might interest other people.  And yet…there’s always the chance that one of his ideas will turn out to be an accidental home run…

When Eddie tries to convince Clint that marriage is sexy Clint replies: “What’s the point in being sexy if you’re not allowed to shag anyone?”

Clint is sharp, good looking, driven and utterly unencumbered by conscience. He has a good job in advertising but plans to get an even better one.

Clint is stereotypically materialistic and a bit of a show-off. He is determined to have more of anything than anyone else – more success, more money and more sex. But he is very well equipped to get more; he’s richer than any of his friends (though that’s not saying much). And he’s recently met Abbey, a small time model.

Clint’s usual behaviour pattern is to pick up girls, sleep with them and never call them again. But Abbey is smarter than that. She refuses to sleep with Clint for a month, and makes him run around after her like a puppy dog.

For the first time in his life, Clint realises he’s in love and that he may have to change his ways for good.  However, when he meets a gorgeous Brazilian stripper, Fabiana, his willpower and self-control is well and truly put to the test…

When you first meet Eddie what you see isn’t what you get. On paper, Eddie is ordinary. He’s an ordinary height, ordinary build, and has an ordinary face.

You might be surprised to find out that he’s going out with the passionate, fiery Lillie. However, when you get to know him better you’ll realise that it’s Lillie who is lucky because Eddie is, in fact, extraordinary.

Eddie is silly, warm, thoughtful and wise in a left-school-at-sixteen-but-sees-the-world-with-utter-clarity kind of way. Eddie is as loyal and fluffy as a Golden Retriever.

Eddie joined the Ambulance service because he wanted to be a union activist.  But, when the whole idea of unions evaporated in the greedy nineties, he stayed on to fix people instead.

He pulls off a neat trick by being totally under Lillie’s thumb while maintaining pride and quiet masculinity.  He does what Lillie wants because he loves her absolutely and because he really does think she’s always right.

If you’re a father you’ll find Eddie pretty hard to be around.  He’s the only man in the universe who would genuinely rather play with his boys than read the paper or watch football.  As a result he finds it slightly harder to keep male friends than female ones.  His only real male friends are Dickie and Clint. He hangs around with Dickie because Dickie’s wife, Babs, is Lillie’s old school friend and Clint is an extra bonus because he’s Dickie’s brother.

Eddie’s life is unglamorous, “My job is to let drunk people be sick on my shoes”, but it is also pretty perfect.  And that’s when the Gods pick on you, right?

Amanda was lucky enough to have had existing relationships with the majority of the cast prior to filming, “I’ve known Dean for years; we first met when we did a commercial together. I knew Lucy through my partner Martin Freeman, I’d worked with Shaun before and I’ve worked with Miranda three times. It helped knowing Lucy as our characters are best friends. The only person I didn’t know on this project was Ralf.”

Discussing the nature of her on-screen relationship with Dickie (Dean Lennox Kelly), Amanda says: “Babs and Dickie are the ‘married’ couple. When we meet Babs she’s at the end of her tether with Dickie and she’s finding it very difficult to keep the marriage alive. Dickie loves her, she’s his soul mate and she does love him, but their marriage isn’t working. She can’t keep bailing him out, as there are bills mounting up because he’s got a bit of a gambling problem and she has her 16 year old daughter to think about. There’s a scene in episode two when Babs and Dickie are at a dinner party in Clint’s house and Dickie is gambling on his mobile phone. That’s the final straw for her!

“Babs is a child psychologist, but she can’t get her career off the ground because she’s put everything into Dickie’s work even though he’s never helped her. That is another bone of contention; he’s waiting for his big chance and keeps trying to set up websites but they all keep failing and he’s terrible with money.

“They have such an up and down relationship, but the one thing that’s brilliant between them is the sex.”

On the subject of Dickie and Babs’ animated sex life and how it was to be captured on screen Amanda says: “I had a nudity clause in my contract because no-one wants to see my naked body believe me, I’ve had two children! It’s all shot from the waist up but still works to convey the scene very well, as you can see it all but you don’t need to see any bits!

“One of my first days filming was a sex scene up against a wall. Luckily I knew Dean so it wasn’t as embarrassing as I thought it would be.”

In the series, Babs has known best friend Lillie since school and ignites a strong friendship with Clint’s on-off girlfriend, Abbey.

“Lillie is Babs’ rock. Lillie tells her she’s an idiot for staying with Dickie and Abbey becomes a very good friend quite quickly after they first meet. All the women are very independent and strong. Babs has been brilliant to play.”

Although a mother herself to two young children, Amanda was terrified to play a mum with a teenage daughter.

Amanda jokes: “Part of me thinks, surely I don’t look old enough to be playing the mum of a 16 year old!! It’s nice though because I’m the only woman in the cast who has children. I’ve adopted the mother hen role!

“Babs has a bit of a love-hate relationship with her daughter, Gina. She had Gina when she was very young. Gina doesn’t know who her real father is because he left when Babs was six months pregnant. Dickie stepped in and he’s been a fantastic father.”

Amanda has high hopes for Married Single Other. She says: “It’s refreshing because I haven’t seen anything like this on television for a while so I’m hoping people will like it. Peter writes really well in terms of friendships and relationships. The series is beautiful; there are so many peaks and troughs. One minute we’re laughing and the next we’re in tears. I think watching relationships and human nature is very interesting.”

Dean Lennox Kelly is instantly recognisable for his breakthrough role as Kev Ball in Channel 4’s Shameless. Now Dean is embarking on a new challenge, playing the loveable yet clueless Dickie in Married Single Other.

“People still think I’m in Shameless! It was so brilliant to do and I had a good  working relationship with Maxine Peake.”

In Married Single Other, Amanda Abbington plays Dean’s on-screen wife, Babs.

“Working with Amanda is a bit like working with Maxine. Our on-screen relationship works, it looks right, it feels right, and we have a similar approach to acting.

“On our first day we filmed a sex scene. It was a bit weird, but there’s no naked bodies wriggling about, and it was quite harmless.

“It’s funny as actors on the whole are pretty gregarious. You have to be pretty open. I find myself saying on most jobs it’s a great job, and a fun cast.  For it to be awkward is very rare.

“Also, I’ve known Amanda for years. We did an advert together playing assistants in a shop and we got on great. Over the years we’ve bumped into each other.”

Amanda wasn’t the only cast member who Dean already knew: “I’ve known Shaun  Dooley for years and I play football with Ralf sometimes.”

In the series sparks are flying early for Dickie and Babs…

“He’s a nice fella but he’s like a big kid.  He doesn’t mean to be bad or lazy or dysfunctional, but he just doesn’t worry about problems. To him, every day is a new day. Babs makes it very clear how unhappy she is, but they’ve been there before and the sex is great.  That’s what he’s good at and what it is that keeps her with him, but perhaps now she’s had enough.  It’s their last chance.

“Dickie is a loveable soul, but he just seems to get things wrong. He’s quite romantic, but frustrates Babs by spending a lot of time on his computer on an online poker game. He’s obsessed with making money so he can set up the next big internet site.”

Unlike Dickie, Dean is not an avid fan of gambling.

“I’ve never gone that way, apart from maybe the Grand National and the football pools years ago!”

After being dramatically killed off in the last series of Spooks, Miranda Raison declares she wanted to do something lighter when she took on her role as Abbey in Married Single Other.

“There are elements of drama in Married Single Other but I wanted to do something more upbeat with comedy involved.  In Spooks I wore the same jeans, jacket and boots every day and was usually made up and covered in snot and blood. It’s quite nice doing Married Single Other because there’s no snot and definitely no blood!

“If there are any similarities between the characters, it’s that they’re both quite vulnerable amidst tougher people. Apart from that, they’re completely different.”

In the first episode Abbey wakes up to find herself in Clint’s apartment with little memory of how she got there.  On first impressions she’s not overly enamoured by Clint’s behaviour, because she’s met his type before, but as his genuine charm starts to shine through, she thinks again and gives him a second chance.

Miranda says: “It’s quite romantic because I don’t think Clint has ever chased after a girl before. He’s disarmed by her and by the fact that she says no. He actually has to make an effort with her which I don’t think he’s ever had to do with a woman. He’s never fallen for anybody or treated anybody very well, so he’s a complete fish out of water, which is lovely actually.

“Ralf plays Clint so well, the way he’s this cocky guy but he’s completely flummoxed by the whole situation, and suddenly all his smoothness is knocked out of him.”

Knowing that she could have been a one night stand means there are trust issues between the two of them.

“There are trust issues between Abbey and Clint, but they naturally get on. Clint had a tough upbringing and she’s had a few knocks. If both of them had never had to put barriers up they’d be perfect, but there’s a lot that they now have to strip away.  Their relationship is quite ‘two steps forward, three steps back’, but it’s very natural with them and their chemistry is the main thing.  Abbey is a really lovely girl, but she’s not got a stereotypical heart of gold; she’s had quite a tough time with the wrong guys. She’s hoping that Clint is Mr Right, even though he’s showing signs of being very wrong.

“Abbey has lots of barriers and she’s very frightened of being hurt, but I think in a way what she really wants is love.”

When it comes to the sexual side of their relationship Abbey bides her time before committing to Clint…

“She’s very keen to make him work for it. She’s not someone who is too willing to put out. I don’t think she thinks she is a tease but she’s very happy to have a snog and walk away.”

Although Miranda’s character is a model she admits she’s never tried her hand at strutting her stuff on a cat-walk.

“I’ve done lots of photo shoots but I’ve never done professional modelling like Abbey.  She’s actually quite a small time model. In her early twenties she did a lot of catalogue campaigns, and now she’s 29 and the work is drying out.  She still does lots of weddings and that’s the kind of work she lives on.

“It’s been great fun as I’ve had a varied wardrobe whilst on set. I had to wear lots of meringues, but some of the costumes were quite special and I had to dress as a biker chick to model at a bike show.”

Miranda continues: “It’s actually quite liberating playing someone like Abbey. She has plenty of insecurities in life, but she’s not insecure about her looks at all, nor is she particularly vain. She’s just like ‘that’s how it is’.

Ralf Little shot to fame in 1998 after landing the role of Anthony Royle in the BBC1 comedy drama The Royle Family.  Since then he’s become a household name known for playing Jonny Keogh in the first six series of sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and as Danny in Massive.

Reflecting back at his career Ralf says: “I was 18 when The Royle Family was broadcast, but it wasn’t until six months after the second series went out that I started to get recognised. Then Two Pints came along and consolidated that. For a few years it was, ‘Hey, Anthony,’ and then it was, ‘Hey, Tony,’ and now it’s, ‘Hey, Ralf,’ and that’s cool.”

Ralf is an avid supporter of Manchester United and a keen footballer. He is thrilled that acting has given him the chance to play at the UK’s best known stadium, Wembley.

“Not to sound boring, but being an actor means you get offered the opportunity to do those things like play football at Wembley. My first ever charity match was at Wembley in 2000 in front of 60,000 people. Amazing!”

Ralf admits he’s glad to be able to act older in Married Single Other.

“I took the part of Clint because it’s a chance for me to play someone a bit grown up.  I’m nearly 30! I was a kid in The Royle Family and a young lad when we started Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. This feels like the next step.”

“Clint has no ties, no family, other than Dickie of course, and quite a well-paid job in advertising. He spends all his money on himself and buys flash clothes and cars. He has good friends, but other than that his life revolves around looking after himself, trying to look good, chatting up girls, taking them home and never calling them again.

“I’m also pushing 30 and can manage a chat-up line, so there are some similarities, but he dresses very differently from me, with all his Prada suits. I’m less bothered with the way I dress. I don’t spend ages doing my hair and putting on the fake tan.”

Known as a serial womaniser, Clint’s outlook on life is about to undergo a massive change when he meets and falls for Abbey.

Ralf explains, “Clint meets Abbey at his usual hunting ground, a bar called Honeyz.  They end up going home together but nothing happens because Abbey’s feeling ill and ends up sleeping on the sofa.  In the morning Clint says, ‘I’ve got to leave for a meeting soon, if you fancy hopping into bed quickly.’ That had worked for him in the past, but he’s amazed to find that Abbey has come home with him because she likes him, and not for the sex.

“Abbey doesn’t fall for any of Clint’s bravado and this suddenly makes him realise that he’s pushing 30 and life can’t continue like this.  It completely throws him and he can’t get her out of his head. This girl has woken him up. Needless to say ‘old habits die hard!’

“Clint’s about to turn 30 and he’s just met a girl who’s really turned his head and made him rethink things.  It’s not that drastic for me, but I will be turning 30 soon and the fact is I’m grown up. I have to admit it and start acting accordingly, and what’s particularly great for me is that this role is a role for a grown-up.”

Speaking on the dynamic with Dickie, Clint’s brother, Ralf says: “It’s quite a typical brotherly relationship, insofar as we rarely say anything nice to each other, but underneath the tone is one of complete brotherly love, which is very well written. Dickie and Clint do talk to each other in a semi-aggressive, vaguely harsh way but they’d do anything for each other.”

The fact that Ralf and Dean knew each other helped solidify this dynamic.

“I’ve known Dean for years and we’ve played football together. Before filming I’d also known Lucy for years. In fact, I interviewed Lucy on my TV chat show, The Ralf Little Show, in 2002.”

After starring alongside Ricky Gervais and Martin Freeman in the award winning comedy drama The Office, Lucy Davis went on to appear in the highly successful series’ Ugly Betty, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Californication. She has since made Los Angeles her home.

“When I first went to LA in 2003, just after The Office, I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know LA. I hired a flat and a car and the first morning I woke up I was in tears.  ‘Why did I do this?’ I thought. I didn’t know where to go, and despite the fact it’s English speaking there are so many differences.”

Lucy continues: “I went to LA for the pilot season so I was hoping for lots of auditions.  You can get three or four a day, and I got one in two months. I shortly came back to the UK and said, ‘I’m not going back there unless I have to’. A year later, in 2004, I returned to LA because The Office was nominated for Best Television Series: Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes and it then felt like a really exciting place to be and many opportunities arose for me.”

Lucy wasn’t daunted by returning to work in the UK because she was reunited with some old co-stars and friends on Married Single Other.

“I’ve known Amanda for a long time through Martin Freeman. I knew Ralf, he’s very funny. It’s a really nice group. I was really happy when I heard that we’d all be in the same apartment building in Leeds. It’s nice to be able to say, ‘Hey, do you want a cup of tea?’ or do lines or just hang out.”

In the series Lucy plays Lillie who is reluctant at first to marry her long-term partner Eddie, played by Shaun Dooley.

Lucy explains: “Lillie doesn’t want to get married because she’s seen so many horrendous examples through the shelter she works at for abused women. I think she thinks, ‘I love Eddie in the here and now rather than what it says on a piece of paper or what we say to each other in a church.’ For 16 years he’s been asking her to marry him on her birthday and she’s like, ‘No, bugger off,’ and while each year he’s disappointed, he knows what the answer’s going to be.”

In relation to her own experience of marriage Lucy says: “In the past I understood why people got married and I supported it and thought it was great.  However, when it came down to me and marriage, I thought, ‘What’s the point? It’s just a bit of paper.’ It had nothing to do with seeing bad examples of marriage or not having met the right person, it was more that I just didn’t want to.”

But Lucy changed her mind.

“Suddenly it was just different. I don’t know why, but I suddenly saw everything differently and I began to see marriage as something I really wanted.”

Seeking advice from friends and family is something that everyone does. Did it make a great deal of difference to Lucy having her father, comedian and actor Jasper Carrot, in the business?

“I ask lots of people for advice. My dad has acted, but his main job is as a stand up comic. I wanted to be an actor and they are different strains of the same job. What is nice is that because my dad’s in the business, I’ve got someone who understands that I’m going into a potentially fragile career.”

Outside of her career Lucy is very dedicated to the dog charity Camp Cocker, an LA based Cocker rescue group which specialises in rescuing dogs from shelters.

“The primary mission for Camp Cocker is to rescue dogs from high kill shelters as there are more than twenty of them within a 125 mile radius. The amount of dogs in shelters is overwhelming.

“The re-homing process at Camp Cocker is very selective as the aim is not just to liberate the dogs as quickly as possible, but to adopt the dogs to a home that is right for that specific dog. It’s important to screen the adopters to be sure they are not re-homing a dog on impulse.”

Shaun Dooley’s role as Eddie in Married Single Other is a stark contrast to the characters he usually plays.  His role of Dick Alderman in Channel 4’s Red Riding is one case in point.

Shaun explains: “Eddie is a character we’ve not seen on TV for a while. He’s a really nice, decent bloke, and he loves his wife and kids and will do anything for them and that’s all he’s concerned about.

“I’m always playing nasty and violent people. Eddie is the first nice character I’ve played in years! My wife is over the moon as she says I tend to bring elements of the characters home!

“I love this part because Eddie is a lovely, genuine guy. He’s really good at his job as an ambulance driver and hands-on paramedic. He’s also hands-on as a dad. He’s hyper-sensitive, and the most grown up character in the whole series. Eddie’s almost an oracle and he tells the absolute truth.

“The reason I wanted this job, apart from how brilliant the character and scripts are, is because there’s a lot of drama. Sometimes in comedy drama one is sacrificed for the other, but that’s not the case in this. There’s a lot of high drama which is why I thought it was wonderful when I read the scripts.

“I really like to research my roles before filming begins but the problem with Eddie is that he’s an ambulance guy and one of the issues I’ve had is that you’re meant to wear gloves all the time, constantly, and the weird thing is contact with another human being is lost.  The character we’ve gone for with Eddie is someone who goes against stuff if he feels it’s better for the patient, like hand to hand contact. He goes against the rules if it’s more important to him than protocol.

“My personal highlight of episode one is the scene with Betty.  She’s an 86 year old lady who he visits regularly. The scene between them is beautiful and it sets him up as the kind of person he is.”

Eddie and Lillie represent the “other” in the story.

“Every year he asks Lillie to marry him on her birthday and it’s become a thing now. It’s expected and accepted that it’s not going to happen.  He’s an old-fashioned guy and he wants her to share his name and doesn’t like the fact that he and his two boys have different surnames from Lillie.”

Surely that rejection must hurt Eddie?

“He’s used to it by now! I think it would shock him if Lillie said yes.”

It seems as though Lillie is in total control of the relationship on many levels, how does she do it?

“I guess in a brilliant way, our writer, Peter Souter, has flipped the coin on the stereotypical male and female relationship. Eddie’s the one who gives out all the emotion and she’s the one who says, ‘stop being so soppy’. Therefore, that stereotype has been flipped on its head.

“The reason they’re so brilliant is that they are one person – they each have the attributes that the other hasn’t got – so they’re very solid. It’s a very happy family unit, except that his lady won’t marry him!”

Shaun sees himself as a traditionalist when it comes to marriage.

Shaun says, “I’m married and I really love it. My parents have been married for years and I love the idea of it.  It’s very old fashioned but it’s nice to have the same name too, it makes you and your partner into a unit.  I have to admit there is a lot more of Shaun Dooley in this role than there is in any of the other parts I’ve played.”