Doctor Foster’s scorned for good No plans for third series, claims star
She has destroyed her ex’s life, leaving him with no home, no job, no money and no family – but still he won’t admit defeat. He marches off, planning to grab son Tom. Gemma puts her foot down and her car on a collision course with Simon.
Well, Simon did say the only way he’d leave town was in a coffin...
Writer Mike Bartlett has said his drama series is based on the 2,500-year-old Greek tragedy Medea – in which a betrayed wife takes revenge on her cheating husband by killing their children.
“In the original pitch, I never actually said, ‘We’re going to do Medea at 9pm on BBC’,” because it probably wouldn’t have gone down well. But that idea was always behind it.”
We know Simon’s driven Gemma to the brink of madness, but could she really decide to kill son Tom rather than let Simon take him away from her?
We’ve seen what Simon is capable of. He got into Tom’s head in an attempt to turn him against his mum.
Simon warned Gemma that as a result of a secret he’s revealed to Tom she’s “already lost” their son. That is likely to be revealed in Tuesday’s episode.
But Tom returned to his mum and now Gemma has taken everything from Simon. Could murder be his ultimate revenge? They may seem to despise each other but it’s clear neither one can get the other out of their head. They even had “hate sex”.
Gemma has hinted their feelings run deep, telling his new wife Kate: “He has a type, and that type is me.”
Maybe, in the most shocking twist of all, TV’s most dysfunctional couple will ride off into the sunset together. DOCTOR Foster is unlikely to be back for a third series, one of the show’s stars claims.
The revelation comes as fans are speculating about possible endings to Tuesday’s finale of the second run in which Suranne Jones plays the sinister GP plotting revenge on ex-husband Simon.
But Sara Stewart – who plays the mother of Simon’s new wife Kate – says: “I’m not aware of any plans for another series. When you sign a contract for one series there’s an option for another but I haven’t heard anything.”
And speaking on Graham Norton’s Radio 2 show yesterday, Suranne said: “Tuesday could end this thing totally. I’m busy next year in a play and then I go off with Sally Wainwright to the Yorkshire Moors for Gentleman Jack. I’m not available to January 2019. If people are still interested in 2019, then who knows?”
Those comments follow writer Mike Bartlett’s hint last week that the chilling doc might be hanging up her stethoscope for good.
FEVER
He teased: “Depending on what happens at the end of series two, a third might not be possible. That’s all I can say”
Last week’s episode, seen by 5.8million viewers, ended with Suranne’s character Gemma looking as if she was about to run Simon (Bertie Carvel) over in her car.
Sara, 51, admits she shares the nation’s Doctor Foster fever. “I’m usually curled up with my dog on the sofa watching it every week. I’m as gripped as everybody else, and I find it disturbing.
“The only really happy couple in Doctor Foster is my character Susie and her husband Chris (Neil Stuke). Everybody else seems to be crumbling around them. People I know watching it say Gemma is insane. She is certainly intense. These days all too often you read about people who kill their spouse and then themselves.”
But Sara insists that’s not a hint at how the show will end. “I can’t tell you because, if I did, I’d have to kill you,” she laughs. “We all knew what would happen before we started filming because we sat round a table and read the whole thing.”
Sara, 51 – who has appeared in The Night Manager, Monarch Of The Glen and Mr Selfridge, as well as movie Philomena – says Dr Foster is on a different level to anything she’s done before. I’ve not been associated with anything that’s had this kind of audience reaction,” she says “The first series had the highest ratings of any drama, and won a National Television Award. It’s gripped the nation.
“Everybody can relate to it. Everybody’s thought things like ‘shall I look through my partner’s phone?’ and most people have cheated or been cheated on. I can’t think of any drama that’s addressed those issues in such a gripping way.”
Sara says Suranne was made for the lead role. “It’s a great part,” she says. “Every actress would want it, but I can’t imagine any doing it as well as Suranne”.
I can’t tell you what happens, because if I did I’d have to kill you ACTRESS SARA ON FANS’ FEVER OVER SERIES FINALE