IN CONVERSATION WITH DAISY GOODWIN
THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR TALKS TO FANNY BLAKE ABOUT CREATING AND PRODUCING Victoria FOR ITV, HER HOUSE BURNING DOWN AND HER LOVE OF GADGETS
AUTHOR AND CREATOR OF ITV’S Victoria
It never occurred to me not to carry on working when I had the children
DAISY, 54, LIVES IN LONDON WITH HER HUSBAND, MARCUS WILFORD, A TV NEWS PRODUCER, AND ONE OF THEIR TWO DAUGHTERS, LYDIA, 16. THEIR OTHER DAUGHTER, OTTILIE, 25, WAS A SCRIPT EDITOR ON THE TV SERIES Victoria.
MY YOUNGER BROTHER AND I HAD A DIFFICULT START, I GUESS, BECAUSE MY MOTHER LEFT WITH ANOTHER MAN WHEN I WAS FIVE. WE LIVED WITH MY GRANDMOTHER AND THEN WITH MY FATHER AFTER HE REMARRIED. I SAW MY MUM IN THE HOLIDAYS AND ON OCCASIONAL WEEKENDS.
MY PARENTS HAD A STRONG INFLUENCE ON ME. MY MUM, JOCASTA INNES, WAS ASTONISHING. SHE CONSTANTLY REINVENTED HERSELF, AND I GUESS I’VE DONE THE SAME. SHE WENT FROM BEING A COOKERY WRITER TO AN EXPERT ON INTERIOR DECORATION BEFORE SETTING UP HER OWN BUSINESS MAKING PAINT. SHE WAS INCREDIBLY RESOURCEFUL AND DETERMINED
AND WORKED VERY HARD. MY DAD, RICHARD GOODWIN, WAS A FILM PRODUCER AND IS THE MOST CHARMING MAN IMAGINABLE. HE HAS BEEN MY GREATEST SUPPORTER AND GIVEN ME THIS INCREDIBLE BELIEF IN MYSELF.
MY FIRST AMBITION WAS TO BE A FILM STAR. THEN I WANTED TO BE PRIME MINISTER. YOU CAN SEE I WAS AN EARLY MEGALOMANIAC. AFTER STUDYING HISTORY AT CAMBRIDGE, I WANTED TO MAKE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARIES, SO I WENT TO FILM SCHOOL AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE STATES. IT TAUGHT ME NOTHING ABOUT DOCUMENTARIES BUT IT DID TEACH ME ABOUT SCREEN-WRITING AND DIRECTION.
I WORKED AS AN ARTS PRODUCER AT THE BBC FOR ABOUT TEN YEARS, THEN WENT TO TALKBACK AND MADE SHOWS SUCH AS Grand Designs
– PROBABLY THE ONE I’M PROUDEST OF – AND How Clean is Your
House?, BEFORE SETTING
UP MY OWN COMPANY,
SILVER RIVER, IN 2005.
MARCUS AND I MET AT
UNIVERSITY AND GOT
MARRIED IN OUR TWENTIES.
WE CAN NEVER REMEMBER WHICH YEAR. WE GOT MARRIED IN A LOVELY OLD CHURCH. WE HAD A WEDDING CAKE SHAPED LIKE A RUSSIAN CHURCH, FOR REASONS I CAN’T REMEMBER.
I GREW UP SURROUNDED BY WOMEN WHO ALWAYS WORKED INCREDIBLY HARD. SO IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME FOR A SECOND NOT TO CARRY ON WORKING WHEN I HAD OTTILIE AND THEN LYDIA. OF COURSE, WE HAD NANNIES. WITH TWO PARENTS WORKING FULL-TIME, HOW CAN YOU NOT?
I STARTED WRITING NOVELS FOR A NEW CHALLENGE. I’VE SPENT A LONG TIME TELLING OTHER PEOPLE WHAT TO DO, SO THERE WAS SOMETHING GLORIOUS ABOUT THE IDEA OF DOING SOMETHING ON MY OWN AND GETTING LOST IN MY IMAGINARY WORLD.
IT DIDN’T OCCUR TO ME TO WRITE A CONTEMPORARY NOVEL. I WANT TO FIND OUT WHY PEOPLE DID THINGS IN THE PAST AND I’M INTERESTED IN THE WAY THAT LOOKING INTO THE PAST GIVES US INSIGHT INTO THE PRESENT.
THE INSPIRATION FOR MY FIRST NOVEL, The Last Duchess, WAS SEEING A PICTURE OF CONSUELO
VANDERBILT AT BLENHEIM PALACE. I BEGAN READING ABOUT THESE AMERICAN DOLLAR PRINCESSES COMING OVER HERE, AND THOUGHT THAT WAS A GLORIOUS SET-UP FOR A NOVEL.
I STARTED WRITING Victoria AS A NOVEL, BUT REALISED IT SHOULD BE A TV SERIES. SHE WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN AND IT’S SUCH A GOOD STORY. MY SCREEN-WRITING AGENT SENT ME TO SEE A FEW PRODUCTION COMPANIES. MAMMOTH LOVED IT, AND BECAUSE THEY HAD FAITH IN ME I THOUGHT, “I CAN DO THIS.”
I’M INTERESTED IN WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE A WOMAN RUNNING A MAN’S WORLD IN THE 19TH CENTURY AT A TIME WHEN WOMEN COULDN’T VOTE AND WERE THEIR HUSBANDS’ PROPERTY. THINK OF THE EMOTIONAL TOLL THAT MUST HAVE TAKEN. VICTORIA HAS OFTEN BEEN INTERPRETED AS JUST A GRUMPY OLD WOMAN BUT, IN FACT, SHE DIDN’T GIVE UP HER FEMININITY IN THE WAY A LOT OF POWERFUL WOMEN SEEM TO. HER DIARIES ARE VERY FRANK AND YOU GET AN INCREDIBLY REAL SENSE OF THE WOMAN
AS WELL AS THE MONARCH.
THEY’RE ALL ONLINE AT QUEENVICTORIASJOURNALS.ORG
AFTER THE TV SERIES,
WRITING THE NOVEL GAVE
ME A CHANCE TO GET
INSIDE VICTORIA’S HEAD. YOU CAN’T DO THAT IN SUCH DEPTH IN A TV SERIES. ALL THE HISTORY WAS ALREADY THERE FOR ME, SO IT WAS A QUESTION OF ROUNDING OUT THE CHARACTERS. I COULD ALSO USE SCENES THAT DIDN’T WORK ON THE SMALL SCREEN.
VICTORIA WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT CHARACTER TO WRITE BECAUSE THERE ARE TIMES
WHEN SHE SEEMS REALLY UNSYMPATHETIC, BUT I FELT QUITE CLOSE TO HER,
AS I RECOGNISED SOME
ELEMENTS IN HER FROM
MY OWN CHILDHOOD.
AS THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, I WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO CHOSE JENNA COLEMAN [ABOVE] TO PLAY HER. VICTORIA WAS 4FT 11IN, AND I WANTED SOMEBODY WHO WOULD BE EQUALLY TINY IN THIS FOREST OF OLD MEN. JENNA TOTALLY FITS THAT BILL, AND SHE’S AN AMAZING ACTOR WITH INCREDIBLE RANGE AND GREAT COMIC TIMING. I PLAYED THE DUCHESS OF INVERNESS IN EPISODE SIX. THE HAIRSTYLE WAS UNIQUELY UNFLATTERING, SO I CAN’T BE ACCUSED OF DOING A VANITY PROJECT! IT WAS LATE ON IN THE SERIES AND I KNEW THEY WOULDN’T WANT TO CAST A FEATURE PLAYER FOR THIS ROLE BUT JUST GET A SUPPORTING ACTOR. SO IF I WAS EVER GOING TO PLAY A PART, I WAS GOING TO PLAY THIS ONE. BUT IT WAS HARD. TURNING UP AT FOUR IN THE MORNING AND STANDING AROUND IN A CORSET IN THE COLD ISN’T MUCH FUN.
IT GAVE ME AN INSIGHT INTO WHAT THE LIFE OF AN ACTOR IS LIKE AND HOW HARD IT IS TO CONCENTRATE. WHEN MY CHARACTER
MET VICTORIA AND ALBERT, I REALLY FELT AS THOUGH
I WAS MEETING ROYALTY, BECAUSE JENNA
AND TOM HUGHES [ABOVE] WERE SO STRONGLY IN CHARACTER. I DIDN’T REALLY NEED TO ACT BECAUSE THAT WAS EXACTLY HOW I FELT.
WE THINK THE SUN HITTING A MAKE-UP MIRROR IN MY DAUGHTER’S BEDROOM WAS WHAT MADE OUR HOUSE BURN DOWN. YOU THINK LOSING EVERYTHING IS THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU,
BUT ONCE I GOT OVER THE SHOCK I REALISED THE BIGGEST GIFT IS TO DISCOVER THAT POSSESSIONS ARE REALLY MEANINGLESS. YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT ANYTHING.
OUR CLEANER WAS THERE AND RAISED THE ALARM AND GOT THE DOGS OUT. IT WAS QUITE BAD, BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE.
SOON AFTER THE FIRE I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER. THEY FOUND A LUMP AT A MAMMOGRAM. I HAD IT REMOVED AND THEN HAD
RADIOTHERAPY. I WAS LUCKY. THE ONLY BAD
BIT WAS HAVING TO TAKE TAMOXIFEN, WHICH I COULDN’T TOLERATE, BUT THE REST OF IT WAS LIVEABLE WITH, ALTHOUGH IT DOES MAKE YOU REALISE YOU’RE NOT IMMORTAL. Victoria KEPT ME GOING, MAKING ME GET UP IN THE MORNING SO I COULDN’T WALLOW IN MY MISFORTUNE.
I LOVE GADGETS. WE HAVE A SCREEN THAT COMES DOWN FROM THE CEILING AT THE PRESS OF A BUTTON. WE’RE THE REVERSE OF A LOT OF MARRIAGES – I’M THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN MAKE IT WORK. BUT MARCUS DOES THE DRIVING. I’M ALSO PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR BOILINGWATER TAP AND MY THERMOMIX, WHICH MY CHILDREN CALL MY MIDLIFE CRISIS MACHINE, BUT IT’S THE ROLLS-ROYCE OF KITCHEN APPLIANCES.
I’M ALWAYS HAPPIER WHEN I’M IN THE COUNTRY, EVEN THOUGH I’VE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CITY.
I LOVE THE SEA, SO WE’RE LUCKY TO HAVE A HOUSE NEAR BRIDPORT IN DORSET, WHERE IT’S NOT PARTICULARLY SMART, BUT IT IS VERY BEAUTIFUL.
MY IDEA OF A ROMANTIC WEEKEND WOULD TAKE ME TO THE MOUNTAINS TO DO CROSSCOUNTRY SKIING. I’M TOO SCARED TO DO PROPER SKIING, BUT I LIKE MOUNTAIN AIR AND THE FEELING OF BEING ON TOP OF THE WORLD. OTHERWISE, I WOULD GO TO VENICE.
I’M VERY DEPENDENT ON MY FRIENDS. I’VE GOT FOUR OR FIVE REALLY GOOD FEMALE FRIENDS, WHOM I TALK TO EVERY WEEK. THEY’RE PRETTY MUCH ALL PEOPLE I’VE KNOWN SINCE MY TWENTIES OR LONGER.
AT THE MOMENT I’M OBSESSED WITH Victoria. I’M WRITING THE SECOND SERIES. I CAN’T THINK FURTHER AHEAD THAN THAT. W&H
Daisy’s novel VICTORIA (Headline Review) is out now.
Possessions are really meaningless. You can live without anything