Hold the front page
Set in the challenging environment of the British newspaper industry, Press is the latest drama from award-winning writer, Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster). e six-part drama focuses on two competing newspapers, e Herald and e Post , immersing viewers in the personal and professional lives of the sta as they attempt to balance work and play in the never-ending pressure of the 24-hour global news cycle. e strong cast includes Charlotte Riley and David Suchet, who tell Insider what’s in store.
Charlotte Riley
What can you tell us about the story of Press? Essentially, it’s about two newspapers that exist opposite each other and it’s about the journalists that work at both and how they tackle the same stories di erently.
Who is your character, Holly
Holly is a journalist. She works at e Herald as deputy news editor. One of the most interesting aspects of her character is that you see how her job has impacted her life and the huge sacri ces she’s made to get where she is. She’s very intelligent; she thinks very quickly, and she’s got a rapid- re brain. However, she’s so focused on her work and what she’s passionate about, that she’s slightly blinkered. She has as much weakness as she has strength. One of the things that attracted me to the role was that it’s interesting to see somebody, particularly a woman, who is really passionate about their job and passionate about what they do and then how that leaves them in quite a vulnerable place, personally.
What did you think of Mike Bartlett’s script?
You don’t o en get to read many scripts where you can’t wait to get the next one, and cruelly they only gave me four scripts. So when I went to the audition, I had to beg to see the other two so I could nd out what happened.
What research did you do for the role?
From talking to a lot of journalists, one of the things that seemed to be undisputed is the cost to their personal lives. It’s quite similar to acting: you’ve got to be prepared to miss birthdays and weddings and important moments in your loved ones’ lives for your job. You’ve got to really, really want to do that job. e amount of content that they have to create and how quickly they have to do it is phenomenal. It would de nitely give me a panic attack if I had to work at that speed. For example, talking to the men and women who are actually physically putting the paper together and just repeating the same question again and again: ‘I don’t understand… how do you do this in a matter of hours?!’ ey just do. For us to get our heads around the skill set for that, it just blew me away.
Were there any challenges you faced while lming?
We had some interesting locations. We did a whole day on tube trains. at was quite fun – jumping on and jumping o the tube on certain lines. We had to shoot some night scenes but because we couldn’t shoot at night, we needed to be going through tunnels at a certain point in order for those scenes to work. You watch an entire crew going: ‘OK! Everybody get o this stop! Everybody get o !’ And then everybody gets o . Everybody is carrying the equipment to get on the next train: you don’t want to miss that train because then you have to wait for another one to be able to shoot more. at was really good fun, it was like guerrilla lming. It was like, ‘OK, we’ve got two stops! Let’s get this bit done! I enjoyed that.
David Suchet
Who is your character in Press? I play George Emmerson. He owns e Post , one of many things I think he owns. He’s not Murdoch and he’s not Maxwell, but he is his own sort of tycoon. He’s got very good values. He doesn’t want sleaze and I think that’s important. He doesn’t want sensational news, he wants good journalism. He’s wry, he’s humorous, but don’t mess with him, because in the end he holds every single string.
What is the appeal of Press for audiences?
We know there’s fake news and there’s real news – all this is exploding in our faces at the moment – it’s the power that news has. Everybody also loves behind the scenes, what goes on backstage in the newspapers is fascinating. It draws people in. ey have to meet deadlines! ey are called deadlines! If you don’t hit them, if you don’t make them, it’s dead.
How would you sum up the show?
It’s a show about how newspapers work and how life and relationships try and t in around this cut-throat industry.