COOGAN JOINS WELSH HIPPIES FOR NEW COMEDY
ALAN Partridge star Steve Coogan is turning to Wales for his latest comedy drama. The actor/writer has revealed that he is working on a new comedy drama set in a Welsh hippy commune in 1969.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival, he told audiences that he was co-writing a script that’s an adaptation of the Abbie Ross book Hippy Dinners: A Memoir of a Rural Childhood.
Coogan told the festival: “It starts in 1969 and is set against the investiture stiture of Prince Charles arles in Caernarfon n Castle – obviously sly a very important ortant moment in n the nation’s history.”
In Abbie Ross’ book, the memoirs start in n 1972.
But in Coogan’s script, the setting has been rolled d back to 1969. It also has a new name – the working ng title is Far Out.
It’s not known yet if it’s a comedy edy for film or TV. Co-writer writer Jess Williams’ credits include Grantchester and Inspector George Gently. ntly.
Coogan added: “It has 15 or r 20 characters of different sizes, various storylines that intersect. It’s something I am passionate about and know will make people laugh and move them. It’s about class, politics and, more importantly than any of that, it’s about people, characters, stories, humanity.” Christine Langan, g chief executive of Baby Cow, producers of the n new project, added: “It’s very much about ab now even though it’s set in the ’60s and ’70s because it’s about how ideologically can you live. It’s clear that a lot of people who grew up on communes people became very successful business people people.” Coogan added that he h is following a method simil similar to the one he employed on his 2013 film Philomena. In that tha Dame Judi Dench played p a woman who searched search 50 years for her forciblyfor adopted ad son. son He played pl the journalist jo who w tried to help her find fin him. “It is those t same s organic o and funny things, letting the story lead you towards poignancy or comedy. It is about how people surprise you and how you shouldn’t judge people because you don’t know what their stories are.”
Coogan also said that now was the time for Alan Partridge to return to the BBC, after being absent since the early 2000s.
He said: “In reality, to come back to the BBC felt like what we had done on Sky and online ... I think he had changed. It stopped being yesterday’s food reheated and became something that was different. It sort of proved its mettle.
“It felt like it had earned its right and felt like it was right to come back to the BBC.”