Come Home stars on how they tackled parenting’s last taboo
Greg Farrell thought he was happily married – until, seemingly out of the blue, his wife Marie sets the reset button on her life and leaves her family. Christopher Eccleston and Paula Malcomson, who play out this intriguing story in new drama Come Home, t
WHAT drives a mother to walk out on her husband and children?
It’s a taboo topic – but one that new BBC One series Come Home expertly explores.
Christopher Eccleston and Paula Malcomson play Greg and Marie Farrell, a Belfast couple who were married for 19 years until, nine months previously, Marie decided to move out and start a new life.
Each of the three episodes delves into the mystery of why Marie made such a drastic change – and how she’s now dealing with the stigma of being a “deserting mother”.
And the fact it’s not a male-led drama was part of the appeal for Eccleston.
“I’m sick of watching blokes’ stories,” says the former Doctor Who star.
“I know about being a bloke – we all do, as a culture. What we don’t understand, what we don’t examine, is the lives of women.”
Here, we discover more about this deeply emotional family drama. “It’s very unusual to be involved in a drama where the perspective shifts.”
“He has failed to recognise the distress in Marie until it’s too late,” he says of his character’s position.
“Fundamentally, he’s a decent man but very flawed and controlling.”
And even though his character is left struggling to juggle the demands of being a single dad while also running a business and trying to deal with his own pain over what’s happened, Manchesterborn Eccleston thinks Marie’s actions are “incredibly heroic”.
“She understands that her deep unhappiness, in the end, is going to prevent her from being a good parent,” he explains.
“The most important thing to Marie, in my take, and I think Paula’s, is the fact she’s a mother. And that, ironically, the mother had to leave to help those children.”
Indeed, Malcomson, 47, says she relished the challenge of playing the desperate Marie.
“I had been thinking about this idea a lot before [I saw] the script,” says the Belfast-born star, who has made her mark on Hollywood in films such as The Hunger Games. “It’s pretty unfathomable for a mother to leave her children.
“Men do it all the time and somehow they don’t get so harshly stigmatised. I wanted to see if I could dissect this character and this issue and still make Marie human and relatable.”
Come Home also stars another homegrown actress, Kerri Quinn, as loud and ballsy Brenna.
A working mother, who’s in a very abusive and loveless marriage, she goes on a huge journey throughout the series.
And Eccleston praises Red, the production company behind the show, and executive producer Nicola Shindler, with whom he has worked on dramas such as Cracker and Hillsborough, for making dramas for women.
“It’s brilliant to be part of that as a bloke, because it changes your role in it as well,” he says.
“You’re not playing some macho guy with a gun in your hand all the time, you’re playing men like Greg, who struggle with their masculinity.”
Malcomson agrees that Shindler’s involvement in the project was key for her.
“She produced Happy Valley which, for me, has perhaps the most interesting female characters on TV,” she says.
“I’d seen a film by [Come Home director] Andrea Harkin and I think she is incredibly talented. I have worked predominantly with male directors and really wanted a woman’s touch.”
Then there’s the exciting work of writer Danny Brocklehurst, who “didn’t pull any punches with the script”.
“Marie makes a choice and that makes a change in dramas, as often in working-class dramas the character doesn’t have choices,” Malcomson elaborates.
“Danny has written the character of Marie with her own agency. It’s brave and bold.”
Eccleston is also quick to applaud how Come Home represents the working class without being cliched.
And asked why he thinks there are more dramas on TV about middle-class people, the father-of-two declares: “Class hatred, it’s very simple. And it’s the present Government, Brexit – there’s a lot of desire for separateness and a hatred of difference.”
The actor, who has starred in dramas such as Our Friends in the North, adds matter-of-factly: “Financially, working-class actors and writers can’t get through.
“There’s a desire for an anodyne, bland culture.”
As well as scenes that will seriously tug at your heartstrings, Come Home is also brilliantly funny – think awkward moments and comical sex scenes.
“If you’re going to put a custody battle and divorce and breakdown [in front of viewers], there’s got to be humour,” remarks Eccleston. “People are not going to sit there and absorb misery.”
Plus, there’s the influence of the city in which the show is set.
“Belfast deals with everything with humour – everybody you meet has got a line and is funny,” the actor shares fondly.
“I have never been made to feel more welcome anywhere in the world, people look you straight in the eye.”
How did Malcomson, who left Northern Ireland 28 years ago to live in the US, find returning to film in her home town?
“Every street corner in Belfast holds some kind of memory for me. The place is just soaked in nostalgia.
“When I left, things were still terrible. It was the dark days. Now we are making movies and the fear is gone and there’s life and hope and optimism.
“It was great to come home... no pun intended!”
Come Home starts on BBC One on Tuesday, March 27.