BBC2 80s SEASON

[Sild]

This should please a few people!


Mathew Horne (Gavin And Stacey, The Catherine Tate Show), Marc Warren (Hustle, Mutual Friends), Mark Gatiss (The League Of Gentlemen, Crooked House) and talented newcomer Douglas Booth are announced to star in Worried About The Boy, a BBC Two drama from Red Production Company about a young Boy George and his journey to become a star on the Eighties fashion and pop music scene.

Written by Tony Basgallop (Hotel Babylon, Hughie Green Most Sincerely) and directed by Julian Jarrold (Red Riding, Brideshead Revisited), Worried About The Boy follows George's journey from cloakroom attendant to cultural icon – from falling in love for the first time, to embracing his unique style, to meeting his Culture Club bandmates.

As a teenager, George O'Dowd realised he was not like the other boys his own age – sharp-witted, independent-minded and with a passion for clothes and make-up, he dreamt of becoming a star.

Leaving the suburbs of Eltham for the smoke of the city he soon became a fixture at the infamous Blitz Club – the favourite haunt of those at the forefront of the New Romantic movement.

Set at the heart of the changing music scene and youth attitudes of the Eighties, Worried About The Boy reflects on an iconic and influential star and the cultural era he is synonymous with.

Douglas Booth plays Boy George, Mathew Horne plays Culture Club drummer Jon Moss, Marc Warren plays nightclub pioneer and Visage front-man Steve Strange, and Mark Gatiss plays music impresario Malcolm McLaren.

Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, says: "Worried About The Boy will be an evocative and visually enticing drama about one of our most iconic British pop stars. With its mix of music, fashion and youth, it rounds off our trio of dramas for BBC Two's Eighties season perfectly."

Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer, Red Production Company, says: "At Red Production Company we always try to tackle provocative subjects with humour and warmth and this is exactly what Tony's script does with Boy George. I was very excited at taking such an iconic British character and showing a different side to a story everyone thinks they know. The early Eighties magical setting of the Blitz Club and the New Romantics is fun, visual and new to TV drama."

Matthew Bird (The Street, Plus One) will produce the 90-minute drama, which begins filming in Manchester this month.

[TurnerPrize]

Is anybody else quite looking forward to this? I shall give it a go.

First is Mad About The Boy, about boy george when he was young and didn't have an extra chin to paint (tomorrow at 9) -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/100512_totp_600.jpg

And then on Monday there's ROYAL WEDDING, about Charles and Di getting married as seen via a small welsh village. it looks quite sweet. It seems to be barely the 1980s in a lot of Wales thesedays, so christ knows what state it was in back then.

And there's also MONEY, a two part Martin Amis adaptation starring Nick Forst (shame), Jerry Hall, and Pete Campbell from Mad Men.

[Christian]

http://images.digitalspy.co.uk/10/19/M/tv_worried_about_the_boy_culture_club.jpg http://images.digitalspy.co.uk/10/19/M/tv_worried_about_the_boy_douglas_booth_02.jpg

One for me and Dr Lecter! Any other takers... :D

Coming this Sunday and basically telling the (very interesting and very funny) story of Boy George's rise to fame. If you haven't read his autobiography "Take It Like A Man", you really should - it's amazing stuff.

No idea what this is going to be like but the story is so good that it should be hard to muck up, even with Matthew Horne's presence.

Anyway, a little interview with the guys playing George and Marilyn to whet the appetite:


His recent exploits - both with and without broom - have been so well-documented that it's easy to forget why Boy George became famous in the first place. Hats off to BBC Two, then, for revisiting the years leading up to the singer's TOTP debut in a new one-off drama called Worried About The Boy. Excited, and mesmerised by the make-up team's handiwork, we met up with Douglas Booth, who plays the young George, and Freddie Fox, who depicts his glamorous mate Marilyn, to find out more.

What attracted you to the role of Marilyn, Freddie?
"Well, I didn't know anything about Marilyn at all, so I watched some interviews with him on the internet and immediately thought, 'Wow, this guy is utterly outrageous'. He had this extraordinary flamboyance and bitchiness and wit to him, so I knew I had to have a crack at playing him!"

How long did it take to transform you into Marilyn?
"I spent an hour-and-a-half in make-up every day and I made a pact with myself that as soon as the wig was glued down in the morning, I'd be in character as Marilyn on set all day."

So if a friend happened to ring your mobile, would you answer as Marilyn?
"Embarrassingly, yes! One time I was practising walking as Marilyn - in six inch heels, of course - and the phone rang and it was one of my best mates. I picked up and he was like, 'Have I got the wrong number?' I was like, 'No darling, I was just practising Marilyn. Bear with me a while!'"

What do we see of Marilyn's relationship with George in the film?
"Well, the crucial thing for me was to convey what close friends they were - they were like drugs to each other, very bad for each other in a certain way, and yet they loved each other and had this incredible wit and badinage together. There are tender moments in the film, but also moments where Marilyn needed to put himself above everyone else, so he'd slap George down with words to make himself feel better."

Do you think their friendship was affected by George's success?
"I think it sullied it at times, but they're still very good friends now of course. Marilyn's not a very well man now but he and George do still speak. But I remember hearing that when 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me' came out, Marilyn dreaded his hair like George because he knew, being prettier and looking like a girl, he'd get more attention than George. I think he used George when he thought he needed to, and of course he'd tell everyone who'd listen how much better he was."

Do you know what Marilyn thinks of the film?
"Well, George told me he'd spoken to Marilyn about me but he won't reveal what Marilyn said! Apparently he sent Marilyn some pictures of me though and Marilyn had a real butcher's at them and went 'Hmmm....' There's a part of me that would really love to meet Marilyn, but a part of me that wonders how much he'd like to meet me."

Douglas, what's it like playing an icon - and a living icon at that?
"Hugely intimidating, but also a lot of fun. It's scary because absolutely everyone knows who Boy George is and I didn't want to ruin him! There's responsibility too, because viewers who are too young to remember George in his heyday will think of me when they think of George in that time."

Was it difficult reconciling the George of today with the George you're depicting?
"When I was researching the role, I read George's autobiography, Take It Like A Man, but I made a decision not to read anything past the age of 26, because that's as far as Worried About The Boy goes. I wanted to know everything that happened to George that led him to where the script begins, but nothing at all afterwards. I was really tempted to watch him on Jonathan Ross recently but I literally forced myself not to go on to iPlayer! I don't know what I'm going be like when I'm in my forties, and of course George didn't either, so I was very strict with myself."

Would you say the film gives a sympathetic depiction of George?
"I'd call it truthful rather than sympathetic. We didn't go in there to make George look like an angel, but we didn't want to demonise him either."

How much of George's relationship with Jon Moss do we see in the film?
"Well, it was an incredibly intense relationship and that definitely comes across in the film. You see a bit of the physical side - they'd beat each other up and then make love afterwards. You know, Jon Moss once hit George with a hammer and said, 'It's OK because he's bigger than me'. They truly loved each other but there were a lot of ups and downs."

Did you get to meet George when he visited the set?
"I did - and I was in costume as him at the time! I remember coming into the room and seeing him there and just feeling really emotional. It was near the end of the shoot and I'd been living in Manchester basically being George. I'd wake up, be George all day, go to sleep and wake up as George again, so seeing him there had an effect on me I wasn't expecting."

What did you chat to him about him?
"Oh, everything - the people in the film, the make-up, the outfits. He's just so easy to get along with. He got quite involved in the project actually, particularly in making sure we got the look right."

Worried About The Boy airs Sunday at 9pm on BBC Two.

[TurnerPrize]

FUCK YOU CHRISTIAN

[Agnetha]

FUCK YOU CHRISTIANAMEN

[Christian]

:manson:

[TurnerPrize]

Oh WHOOPS SILD

(although mine was ALL ENCOMPASSING, not like you two in your gay ghettos)

[Donna Winter]

I'm watching this DARLINGS

[lolly]

Recording it.

I was almost inclined to SNUB it, such is my OUTRAGE at the FUGLY Mathew Horne being cast as the LOVELY Jon Moss :evil:

[TurnerPrize]

I really enjoyed this. I know balls all about any of them (apart from Boy George and Steve Strange, and that's only as modern day media laughing stocks), so i don't know how accurate it was, but it really drew me in. I laughed a bit, i found it all pretty interesting, and i cared what happened. I thought everyone did pretty well acting wise, too.

Although that said, i'm not sure i know anymore of what Boy George is or was like as a person. i just know what he's done with his life now. Maybe he is just a bit boring underneath it all.

[TurnerPrize]

As a result of his health and financial problems, Marilyn now lives a relatively secluded life with his mother in North London. In November 2007, Marilyn was using his official MySpace blog to ask fans to send him money so that he could buy a new computer for himself

:(

[FetchFugly]

Poor Marilyn.

I'm not all that up on the Boy George story either, but I watched this last night and really enjoyed it. Horne wasn't too annoying and wasn't in it that much anyway - it might have been good to see a bit more of early Culture Club though - it kind of went from rehearsal room to number one on TOTP. The guy playing George did a good job I thought and Kirk Brandon was quite attractive, however Marilyn was the best.

[Emma]

I thought it was flipping AWFUL.

Basically missed out all the good bits of their rise to fame and George's subsequent heroin addiction - it was all just implied. Had the potential to be really great but the beeb mugged in in my opinion.

[Agnetha]

It was QUITE GOOD, but as Emma rightly points out there were HUGE CHUNKS MISSED OUT.

It made him probably far too sympathetic.

[lolly]

I expected to see a new compilation or something in HMV today, but seemingly nothing. A bit of a wasted opportunity, surely.

[Dr Lecter]

I loved it. Shock. I think it would have benefitted from being a two parter there is do much material there. But for shat it was it was good. Douglas. Booth was spookily like George and even Matthew Horne was convincing which I was worried about.

Dunno why his dad spoke with an Irish accent when he was pure cockney and why the he'll Mother George Dinah O Dowd wasn't a major character. But oh well.

I found it quite sad as well. I think people forget he was only 20 when he made it big and what a phenomenon of a global star he was. too much too soon.

Boring rant over.

[Dr Lecter]

Oh yeH and the guy playing Malcolm Maclaren was spot on. More Marilyn was needed too.

Maybe me and Christian should develop a biopic of him!

[Tetris-Rock]

*wishes she could find a clip of the Boy George/Marilyn episode of Rock Profile online*