What does the job involve?
I have to keep on top of the talent and be knowledgeable about not just their abilities but also where they are in their working lives.
You need to know when an actor is trying to change their trajectory and doesn’t want to be sent the same scripts. I present my casting ideas to the creative team, usually the director, producer, executive producers and broadcaster.
Do you offer an opinion?
Over four novels, two of which have been adapted for the silver screen (Starter for 10 and One Day), he has astutely mirrored the average life stages from adolescence to adulthood, often reducing the nation to tears in the process - read One Day at your peril.
Us, he says, was his “midlife crisis novel,” and it’s his latest to get the nod for adaptation as a four-part BBC miniseries, written by Nicholls himself.
ITVs comedy-drama Cold Feet returns for its ninth series on Monday, following a group of five friends.
The six-part series will pick up after the end of series eight, where Jenny (Fay Ripley) prepared herself for the rest of her cancer treatment with husband Pete (John Thomson) by her side.
David (Robert Bathurst) was slowly rebuilding his life after becoming homeless, while Adam (James Nesbitt) and Karen (Hermione Norris) were coming to terms with their new romantic relationship and the impact it had on the rest of the group.
ITV’s dramedy series Cold Feet, starring James Nesbitt, Fay Ripely, John Thomson, Robert Bathurst and Hermione Norris, promises dramatic developments for its eighth series, with a wedding possibly on the cards.
Set in Manchester, the series follows a group of middle aged friends as they struggle with parenthood, major life changes and a shifting society. Adam (Nesbitt) finds himself reassessing his habit of flirting with much younger women, while Karen (Norris) and David (Bathurst) try to support their unhappy son Josh.
Tony Wilson is one of the region’s defining media figures and “Mr Manchester” is rightly remembered each year by RTS North West’s Anthony H Wilson Memorial Lecture.
Chaired by Granada News presenter Lucy Meacock – a former colleague of Wilson on Granada Reports and Granada Upfront – the lecture drew a large audience of 150 people to the Lowry Theatre, Salford in mid-October.
As well as his television work, Wilson also ran Factory Records, home to Joy Division, New Order and many other Manchester bands.
Finneran plays Cheshire housewife Nikki Kirkbright, who develops a close bond with David Marsden (Robert Bathhurst) through his job in personal finance.
Despite her luxurious lifestyle, there is more than meets the eye as it becomes apparent that Nikki's husband George (Robert Glenister) is not the man he seems.
When secrets are revealed, will David be able to help Nikki escape, or will he get tangled up in the situation?
As the cost of failure in TV gets ever higher, particularly in drama, it is no surprise when commissioners turn to the past to fill tomorrow’s schedules. Some of these second-life shows become huge hits.
Poldark returned from 1975 to score as one of the biggest new dramas of 2015. Some reboots, such as Doctor Who, become such an established part of the TV landscape that it’s hard to believe they ever went away. Others, such as ITV’s revival of Stars in Their Eyes last year, misfire.
