Shakespeare & Hathaway
Season 4 BBC Brit (*120) 20:00 Drama
Drama and crime thrillers are the name of the game in light-hearted Brit detective series Shakespeare & Hathaway, and star Jo Joyner (as Luella Shakespeare) says that the comedy styling makes the show better than its rivals. “We have a lot of tongue-in-cheek humour in the scripts. We’re also encouraged to ad lib a little when we see opportunities. We really do have a good laugh.” And some of the cases that the duo investigate make for a chuckle at home too.
“We obviously feature traditional crimes in the storylines, like the good ol’ whodunit murder, or a robbery or the cheating spouse. But we also get to have fun with things like the supernatural – in one of the episodes later in the season there’s a ghostly spectre that is haunting a mansion and the owner wants Lu and her partner to investigate,” says the actress. But even then, there’s a rational explanation, adds Jo’s co-star Mark Benton (as Frank Hathaway). “It’s kind of like the Scooby-Doo! cartoons – the team look into a mysterious haunting by a ghost or spirit and then they unmask the villain, who often is the very person who hired them.”
As for the scripts themselves, the show’s stars get them months before shooting episodes and they know who, where, how, what and why. But it’s still fun solving the crime onscreen, explains Jo. “Sometimes we film backwards, from the finale to the start of the episode and it’s interesting because you’re seeing the end result and now you’re putting the pieces together. Our production team do a wonderful job of creating a light and entertaining filming process, and as actors it’s a joy to come to work every day and actually want to be there even if it’s solving murder crimes.”