After sensitively tackling the crisis of masculinity in How to Be a Man, Rylan is now asking his guests How to Be in the Spotlight. And despite our exposure to a lot of very public breakdowns, including Rylan’s own, it can be hard to empathise when the spotlight also brings with it such enviable perks: his first guest, the actor Daisy May Cooper, boasts: “You can get your Sofology delivery within a week when you normally wait 13 weeks.”
We’re meeting to discuss one of those stories. Carraway’s debut TV show, Rain Dogs, the brilliant dark comedy she created, wrote and executive produced with BBC and HBO, premiered earlier this year. She’d had TV developments in the past, “but nothing ever got off the ground because my life was too chaotic,” she explains. “I just wasn't ready.”
From the brilliant new voice of author Cash Carraway, Rain Dogs follows a dysfunctional family on the fringes of society attempting to go straight in a crooked world. Costello Jones (Daisy May Cooper) is a devoted mother who wants more for her young daughter, Iris (newcomer Fleur Tashjian).
As she hustles to survive, Costello leans on Selby (Jack Farthing), Iris’s pseudo father (and Costello’s pseudo soulmate) and Gloria (Ronke Adékoluejo), a loyal yet chaotic godmother and best friend.
Focused on a powerful love between mother and daughter, Rain Dogs is a wild ride into the chaotic lives of single mother Costello Jones, played by Daisy May Cooper (This Country), and daughter Iris, played by Fleur Tashjian in her breakout role.
Carraway claims Rain Dogs “isn’t autobiographical”, but there are strong shades of some of her earlier work. Skint Estate, Carraway’s acclaimed debut memoir, chronicled her experiences as a single mum living through poverty and the destructive austerity programme of the 2010s.
Written by This Time With Alan Partridge writers Neil and Rob Gibbons, the new comedy for BBC Two follows a failing witchfinder (Key) as he transports a suspected witch (Cooper) across 1640s East Anglia, to a trial that could change his fortunes forever.
Executive produced by Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials), Am I Being Unreasonable? sees Daisy May Cooper star as Nic, a woman grieving a loss that she can’t share with anyone while stuck in a miserable marriage. Her son Ollie (Lenny Rush, Apple Tree House), who she adores, is the only one keeping her going.
When Jen (Selin Hizli) arrives in town, Nic’s life is lit up with laughter, but through this kindred spirit her dark secret begins to come to the surface.
The series will see nine renowned queens from across the world compete in an international Drag Race extravaganza for the ultimate title of becoming a global Drag Race superstar.
The celebrities joining the main judging panel of Michelle Visage, Alan Carr and Graham Norton will be Little Mix’s Jade Thirwall, Spice Girl Melanie C, award-winning actress Michelle Keegan (Our Girl), This Country star and comedian Daisy May Cooper, Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey, and BBC Radio 1 and BBC Three presenter Clara Amfo.
The six-part drama focuses on the budding friendship between Nic (Daisy May Cooper) and Jen (Selin Hizli).
When Jen blows into town with her young son Harry, she shakes up Nic’s lonely life, adding fun, laughter and booze, with Nic’s son Ollie also bonding with Harry.
The twisted comedy thriller looks at marital angst, maternal paranoia and features a dead cat.
Viewers will get to see female friendship at its naughtiest and most intoxicating...until it all starts to unravel.
The new series will have eight 45 minute episodes plus a one-off Christmas special produced by Talkback, the production company responsible for all previous series.
Sky has named comedian Greg Davies (Taskmaster) as the new host, a role held by the likes of Mark Lamarr, Simon Amstell and Rhod Gilbert over the years.
Noel Fielding (The Great British Bake Off) will return to the show as team captain opposite Daisy May Cooper (This Country), while Jamali Maddix (Hate Thy Neighbour) will feature as a regular guest.
A cosy Christmas film inspired by the true story of a six-year-old Roald Dahl (Harry Tayler) meeting his favourite author, Beatrix Potter (Dawn French).
