FIELD OF DREAMS
HAVE STEVE AND NICKY FINALLY GOT THE HANG OF LIFE IN THE COUNTRY? NOT QUITE YET, REVEALS JACK DEE…
In the first series of Bad Move, it didn’t take long for former Leeds residents Steve and Nicky to discover that life in the countryside wasn’t quite the calm, peaceful existence they’d pictured. As the show returns for a second series this week, there are signs that the couple have started to get their heads around how things work in their new village – but they’re still playing catch-up…
“They’re getting the measure of the place,” reveals Jack Dee, who co-writes the show and plays Steve. “At the end of series one, their house was quite badly damaged by Grizzo, the local rock star, coming to their party in a helicopter. It’s still not been fixed yet, they’ve not found a builder who can do the work. And they’ve got moths, so all their nice clothes have had to be thrown out. So everything’s the same, but a bit worse!”
Launching a new comedy can be an exceptionally tricky business, but Bad Move had the advantage of being scheduled between episodes of Coronation Street, which is one of the best slots ITV has to offer – though that, of course, came with its own pressures.
“We survived the challenge of being in a Corrie sandwich, as they call it,” chuckles Jack. “The pressure is absolutely huge – it’s very different from writing something that goes out late at night on another channel. To be able to make something that was wellreceived by a lot of people who watch Coronation Street as well as other people who’ve come in to watch it, was gratifying. I think we’ve pushed it further in this series, because we’ve understood better where we can go with it now.”
While the show puts in every effort to make Steve and Nicky’s country home look as unappealing as possible on screen, Jack lets us into a little-known secret: the real-life location that they use is actually rather lovely.
“I shouldn’t be saying this because it goes against the whole feeling of the show, but being up in Yorkshire is fantastic,” he shares. “It’s a beautiful place to film – at times it’s quite a challenge to make the house look just as depressing as it does!”
And although his alter ego in the show is quickly realising just how much of a city slicker he is, in real life Jack really enjoys getting away to the country – and has also discovered some new talents.
IT’S QUITE A CHALLENGE TO MAKE THE HOUSE LOOK SO DEPRESSING”
“On a couple of occasions I’ve been accused of being more like the character Matt than like Steve,” he says. “I’m very pleased that I’ve grown figs in my garden. My daughter showed me how to make fig leaf ice cream which I was very pleased with. I was in the edit talking about it and they were looking at me going, ‘Who’s come in here? Who is this person?’ They really don’t expect that!”