The Trouble with Maggie
ITV Choice is coming to an end in SA next month, but not without a bang. The channel has delivered a slew of amazing entertainment in its five-year stint in the country, and that won’t change.
A new series on ITV Choicethis month, The Trouble with Maggie Cole, explores the repercussions of idle gossip escalating out of control in the age of social media.
When a radio journalist interviews Maggie (Dawn French – The Vicar of Dibley) for a small feature about local life in her picturesque fishing village, she gives him far more detail – and embellishment – about the personal lives of her friends and neighbours than he was counting on.
Soon, Maggie finds herself in serious hot water, while also facing some dark secrets within her own family.
Starring a host of familiar faces, including Mark Heap (Green
Wing) as Maggie’s husband, Julie Hesmondhalgh (Broadchurch) as her best friend, Vicki Pepperdine (The Windsors) as the school secretary and Patrick Robinson (Casualty) as a handsome local author, the series landed an audience of over three million when it aired in the UK in March.
French gave some insights on gossip, forgiveness and why her latest series has drama, comedy and “a big, big pulsing heart”.
Where did the idea for The Trouble with Maggie Cole from?
I was due to write The Trouble with Maggie Cole as my next novel. Then executive producer Sophie Clarke-Jervoise came down to see me as a friend and asked me what I was doing. So I told her the story and she said, ‘Please don’t write that as a novel. Please can we have it for telly?’ I told her
I hadn’t any time to write it and she said: “I know exactly the right person.” And she was right.
The role of social media is important in the series, isn’t it?
Absolutely. And in fact a small story, which it could have remained and just done a bit of damage in that village and then been mended somehow, starts to trend because of social media. It becomes more national and it’s more embarrassing for everybody involved.
Maggie wouldn’t have wished that and she wouldn’t have considered that. None of us know now what we’re getting into until we’re in it. Once Maggie has made her terrible mistake she’s very quick to try and rectify the situation.
Well, she’s a good-hearted person, actually. I think that’s a key thing. Being a gossip doesn’t
make you a dreadful person. We’re all gossipers. It’s how you handle the gossip and how you handle the aftermath, if you’re quick to be contrite.
She does have a moment of shock and pride, if you like, where she is a bit numb. But then she very quickly realises that she has to apologise. Thus begins her pilgrimage to the door of each person to apologise.
And like any good drama, and certainly like any good gossip, there’s a bit of truth in some of the stories and a lot of untruth. In some cases she finds out the story is 10 times as big or it’s about something completely different.
Some people it genuinely helps. – Citizen reporter