British TV stars - Jack O’Connell, Sheridan Smith, Ralph Brown and Russell Tovey - are all set to join the British urban thriller "Tower Block" reports Screen Daily.
The story revolves around the inhabitants of a council estate who witness the murder of a young teenager but are too scared to come forward. A year later, a sniper begins targeting them, and they’re forced into a battle for survival.
O’Connell was the breakout star of the third and fourth seasons of the UK "Skins" in a role akin to Nicholas Hoult's in the first two seasons. He went on to score key roles in "Eden Lake,” “Harry Brown," "This is England" and the telemovies "Dive" and "United".
Tovey first came to notice amidst the cast of "The History Boys" and has established a successful TV career with major roles in "Being Human," "Him & Her" and "Little Dorrit" along with many guest starring roles in the likes of "Sherlock," "Ashes to Ashes," "Doctor Who," "Poirot," "Miss Marple," and "Silent Witness." He is currently working with Ralph Brown on the comedy "Him & Her."
Sheridan Smith first came to fame in sitcoms like "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps", "Gavin & Stacey" and "Benidorm". In more recent times she's become a noted stage actress and won the Laurence Olivier Award this year for her work in "Legally Blonde: The Musical". She also starred in the two most recent "Jonathan Creek" TV movies.
The script has been penned by James Moran, writer of the black comedy "Severance" along with the upcoming "Cockneys vs. Zombies" and episodes of "Doctor Who," "Spooks," "Torchwood" and "Primeval".
Ronnie Thompson and James Nunn make their directorial debut on the project.
Sheridansmith1: @JackO__C looking forward to meeting u & working with you. See u tomorrow x
(Date: Thursday 14th July) x
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PuzzlerT: Have randomly seen both Gina McKee (gorgeous, on a train) & Russell Tovey of Being Human (in Forbidden Planet) recently.
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MatthewCainC4: Interviewing Jake + Dinos Chapman today about their new show, first time they've worked individually. Anything you'd like me to ask them..?
russelltovey: @MatthewCainC4 amazing!!!!!! X
Kezz_RTvey_ESxB: @russelltovey jusst found your name in a baby book...it means Red haired :S you needed to be ginger basically! Dissapointing that ;D LOL xx
Tom_In_Oz_: @Kezz_RTvey_ESxB @russelltovey Although @MatthewCainC4's name might night match, Russell comes from the French "rous" which means red headed.
russelltovey: RT @theanswerisyes: "Hayley Tompkins: Currents at Studio Voltaire - South" - @timeoutlondon bit.ly/q7KbyR
russelltovey: RT @jordanbanimator: Omfg just seen aardmans pirates trailer bloody fantastic :) ! @PeteLordAardman
marcuswhitney1: @russelltovey my new nextdoor neighbour is one of the sculptors on #pirates, she's making a mini you!
Confidential_CC: @marcuswhitney1 @russelltovey Pete Lord of Aardman is sending me some development pics of Russ's albino pirate...gonna be blogged later on x
russelltovey: @marcuswhitney1 shutup!!!! X wanna see you soon big time x
russelltovey: RT @Liam_Dalton: Him & Her at 11.15pm on BBC1 with @russelltovey I hope it's the birthday party one, it's so funny!!!
russelltovey: RT @mark_simpson: @Solemani @russelltovey If you're in Northern Ireland you can see Him and Her on *Friday* night at 11.45 on @bbconeni!
russelltovey: Him&Her tonight BBC1 11.15 episode 2 and it's a bloody good one!!! Please watch and enjoy x x x x x
russelltovey: This is a repeat of series 1 Him&her, series 2 airs in the autumn but would be wonderful if my loyal wittys supported the repeat please!!!x
boydhilton: Annoying tweet alert!: ONE DAY I'll be able to talk about the film I saw tonight and what I thought of it. One day.
russelltovey: @boydhilton is it amazing? Let it be amazing! Is it amazing??? X
boydhilton: @russelltovey I'm taking this to DM!! x
russelltovey: RT @kentonallen: If you fancy doing something after #newsnight then pls consider #Himandher tonight BBC1 11.15 episode 2 Steve is 'unwell'. My fave from S1
summer in the city
russelltovey: Is this seriously our summer?????? What a joke x
angloirishgal: @russelltovey It's lovely in Bristol :-)
our_tone: Hi London. I'm coming back this evening. Has summer made an appearance yet?
russelltovey: @our_tone no x
RussTov_FanSite: @russelltovey What is up with London? Even now at night in Oz mid winter we are at 13c - a high of 16c for tomorrow http://t.co/yU8kRNX
jamiezoob: @russelltovey we had our summer in April. Remember @drew_Davies' party? It was warm and sunny then and we all joked that this will be it. Ha
FUNNIER THAN YOUR REAL MATES
ENTERTAIMENT – FYI - TV
MATT PHIL CARVER
July 2011
http://www.differentscene.co.uk
TV can be a strangely high-concept medium at times. BBC3 promoted the first season of Him and Her with no grander premise than “Steve (Russell Tovey) and Becky (Sarah Solemani) get busy doing nothing in Stefan Golaszewski’s anti-romantic comedy.” It’s not quite akin to the original pioneers of high-concept, such as “small holiday resort is terrorised by a huge man-eating shark”, but critics seem to have lapped up Stefan Golaszewski’s style of ‘real life’ writing. The following is a quote from The Guardian’s review:
“Golaszewski breaks the last great TV taboo about young people, in showing them to be almost boring. People drift in and out of the bedsit with little explanation of who they actually are. This is real life in all its dull randomness.”
Does no one else see a slight problem with this concept?
It appears from the critical consensus that BBC3 really has produced a convincing true-to-life depiction of the mundane lives of an unemployed bedsit-dwelling couple in their twenties. It is such an organically presented social environment that it’s almost like being there, hanging out with Steve and Becky, an ordinary couple in an ordinary bedsit, with their ordinary mates.
But who the hell would want to do that?
The problem with presenting Steve and Becky as entertainment is that it seems to plunge all those who watch into an all-encompassing social paradox. If you are sprawled out on the couch, watching Him and Her with your partner, a friend, or a whole a group of friends, then surely you are all confessing that those on screen are more interesting company than anyone actually in the room. This is no reason for concern if you are switching on the telly to collectively engage with Jack Bauer or Detective Vic Mackey, because they very obviously are more interesting than your real mates. But Steve and Becky?
This is not to say that it’s a bad show, just that the writer’s aspiration to depict the whimsical dullness of twenty-something domesticity will only appeal if the characters are funnier than your actual mates. In theory, anyone watching the show should be instantly offended by anyone else present who is also watching it.
The comedy here is clearly aiming for the ‘funny because it’s true’ register, with the occasional jolt of shock humour (there is no obvious hidden comical dimension to the belief that 9/11 was a hoax). Sadly though, this is where the BBC becomes a victim of its own success, because taking this approach brings Him and Her onto the same comedy terrain as a true colossus of British telly, The Office.
The true genius of The Office was not in the way it so closely imitated real life, but in the way it used that realism to make its outrageous caricatures believable, bringing everyday human insecurity and narcissism to the comical foreground. Him and Her simply aspires to imitate real life, offering nothing by way of social commentary or witty humanistic insight. Flick down the list of great British comedies (Blackadder, Fools and Horses, The Royal Family, etc.) and you’ll see that this is where the charm really lies.
Repeats of Season One of Him and Her kicks off Wednesday July 6th on BBC1 at 11.15pm, and will offer you the chance to spend six more idle nights in with Steve and Becky. So if your flat mate or partner is sat down watching all the domestic tedium unfold every Wednesday night, it may be time to wonder…
“Am I really that boring?”
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