After being played as a psychopath, it was good of Midge to get in touch ...we never heard from Bob though
Writer Neil Forsyth on reimagining modern history from the legends of Live Aid to a royal and rocker’s reputed romance – TV writer Neil Forsyth
Intimidating, embittered, and slightly psychopathic... Midge Ure might have been forgiven for feeling uneasy about his portrayal in a smallscreen comedy drama.
But, according to writer Neil Forsyth, the Ultravox frontman loved the way actor Martin Compston played him.
The Line Of Duty star plays the singer in a Sky Arts comedy that goes backstage at the iconic Live Aid show in July 1985.
Documented truth merges with music industry legend, as Elton John incessantly complains about Noel Edmonds landing his helicopter on his begonias; Freddie Mercury chats up U2’s Bono; and Compston’s Ure goes to war with Bob Geldof, accusing his Band Aid cofounder of being a has- been one- hit wonder rigging the bill so his band, the Boomtown Rats, get a prime slot.
Neil said :“Martin was hilarious in it and has had great plaudits for it.
“But he hadn’t done a lot of comedy before so he was actually a little nervous.
“He said to me at rehearsals: ‘I think I might just play him as a bit of a psychopath’ and I just said to go for it.
“He was brilliant and so funny. What was lovely was that Midge got in touch with Martin afterwards to say how much he’d enjoyed it. He was very goodhumoured about the whole thing.
“It was great to get that validation as I’d written it in that way. But I think Martin was really relieved when Midge got in touch to say how much he’d liked it.
“I’ve not heard anything from Geldof though.”
The programme, still available on demand, is part of the Sky Arts Urban Myths series, which features off beat takes on possibly-true tales from popular culture.
And Neil has penned another, featuring a Scots A-list star.
Due to be screened in the coming months, Mick and Margaret recounts the story of the relationship between Princess Margaret and Mick Jagger.
Kelly Macdonald plays the Queen’ s late sister, with Twilight actor Jamie Campbell Bower as the Rolling Stones frontman.
It was an idea that came to Neil while he was on holiday near the princess’s favourite holiday hideaway, Mustique.
“I was in the Caribbean and on reading up about where we were, I stumbled across stuff about Mustique,” said Neil.
“I found that whole world out there in the 1970s fascinating.
“Margaret had a pretty bohemian group of pals and would go there every year and have a bit of a blowout when there were no paparazzi around.
“Mick bought a house there and the story tracks their friendship, largely on Mustique, over about 30 years. They met at parties in London in the 1960s and you have to read between the lines a lot as neither of them wrote their memoirs about it and Jagger famously gave his advance back as he decided he didn’t want to do it.
“But they were definitely very good pals at a minimum in the 1960s and they stayed in touch. I think it’s a very fond portrayal of both of them.”
Mick and Margaret will be
Neil’s fourth and, he expects, final Urban Myths story. One of the others, about Samuel Beckett, has already been screened with the remaining one about Michael Jackson pulled from the schedules by Sky after criticism from Jackson’s daughter Paris.
Although Neil says there are plenty of people wanting to see it, he isn’t sure if it will ever be broadcast.
Part of the reason he anticipates he won’t be working on any more of the acclaimed short films is the number of other projects he currently has on the go.
Now living in Herefordshire – though still a devoted Dundee United fan who was devastated that they missed out on today’s Scottish Premiership play- off final – Neil is hoping to see filming on one of his projects start north of the border this autumn.
“It’s looking very positive, and I’ve got three or four others but you never really know until you get to that first day’s filming.
“That is the one time I actually relax. Often it’s the one that everyone tells you will happen that falls at a late hurdle.
“Bob Servant is a good example. BBC Scotland commissioned a third series and then we couldn’t get the network money in place to get the budget up to what we needed for production.
“For a couple of months it did look like we were doing a new series and then it slightly fractured.
“And by contrast, it’s the long shot project that suddenly gets a bit of steam behind it and happens.” Neil feels we won’t be seeing any more of Brian Cox’s Servant: “I think Bob is living in very happy semi-retirement between his burger van in Broughty Ferry and his static caravan in Pitlochry,” he said.
But he is busy working between TV and film, both here and in America.
He is heading to the States next month for discussions about one of the projects he has been developing over there.
“It’s a very different way or working – some of it good and some of it bad – but I still find it incredibly exciting to be going over and round all of the studios.
“These days T V is such an international business. There’s a show that I sold in America and wrote two scripts for a network.
“When it didn’t happen I got it back and there are now discussions with HBO Scandinavia about a Swedish version of it.”
But one of Neil’s most recent triumphs, Eric, Ernie and Me, couldn’t have been more British.
He came across an out- of- print copy of the autobiography of Morecambe and Wise scriptwriter Eddie Braben and read it on a train to London while heading for a general catch-up meeting with a producer.
“I told him it would be a great way to look at their story and right away the BBC were really interested,” said Neil.
“But I had to get the Braben family on board and went to Wales to see Eddie’s widow Dee.
“I left the script with her and went for a nerve- racking two- hour walk along the beach before going back to get her verdict. It could have been a straight no and we wouldn’t have done it if that was the case.
“But she said she liked it and then we were off to the races. I got a lot of the Braben family memories into later drafts of the script.”
The film was one of the feelgood Christmas hits, with Scots actor Mark Bonnar giving an uncannily accurate portrayal of Eric Morecambe.
Mark was delighted with the look – especially because it was a fairly low-budget BBC Four programme – and the performances.
It received a very warm welcome, has been nominated for awards and Mark says it has now led to posthumous recognition for Braben in his home city.
He said: “Liverpool council have announced they are going to do a big exhibition on Eddie’s work on the back of the show, which is a lovely thing to see.”
They were definitely very good pals at a minimum in the 1960s and they stayed in touch. I think it’s a very fond portrayal of both of them – Writer Neil Forsyth on Mick Jagger and Princess Margaret