JESSICA REGAN LAUGHS DARKLY
Irish actor’s show is all about life and death situations... and lots of good comedy
HUMOUR is very much a matter of personal taste. And, as comedians have proved over the centuries, fun can be found in most – if definitely not all – topics.
So, while the core subject matter of BBC’s new comedy Ill Behaviour is definitely no laughing matter, one of its stars Jessica Regan insists there is plenty of fun to be had for those tuning in.
The BBC2 series, which begins tonight, was written by Peep Show co-creator Sam Bain and is focused on cancer.
The bizarre premise is that when family man Charlie ( Tom Riley) is diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, best pals Joel (Chris Geere) and Tess decide to abduct him and administer the chemotherapy he’s shunning.
“I don’t think cancer is at all the punchline for this,” insists Irish-born Jessica, who plays Tess.
“It’s really the extreme situations the characters find themselves in and how they deal with those.
“That’s where the comedy is really mined. The cancer itself is obviously quite grim and unflinchingly dealt with.
“I think Tom plays it beautifully and it shows the mental as well as the physical toll.
“It’s still very funny, though, and I couldn’t stop laughing when I first got the script.
“The people think they are saving his life by forcibly administering the chemo but they are deeply flawed and frankly inept.
“It’s those flaws we can identify with and ultimately laugh at.
“There’s plenty of physical comedy in this too. I found myself having to rugby tackle at least a couple of gentlemen.”
Jessica is known for her lengthy time playing Dr Niamh Donoghue in daytime soap Doctors as well as guest appearances in Call The Midwife, Silent Witness and EastEnders.
And she reckons there’s a reality about what happens to the characters in Ill Behaviour.
“There are painful consequences for the actions taken as, in trying to save his life, they isolate him from the people he loves.
“So, there is a cost to what they do and they don’t just get away with things. Sometimes in TV series characters’ actions just get glossed over but that’s not the case here. You pay the price for what your character does every step of the way.”
Ill Behaviour all plays out over three one-hour episodes rather than six bittier half-hour ones.
“I like to do things that are new and telling one story over three hours was a lovely thing to be able to do,” says Jessica.
“In a way it felt the same to other things I’ve done in television – the long filming days – but the format of it was great.
“You were really able to get stuck into the characters and develop the chemistry and the relationships between them.”
While this is a limited, one-off series at the moment, Jessica isn’t ruling out some kind of return in the future.
“There is resolution to this particular story but I think the theme of doing the wrong thing for the right reason has infinite legs.”
Jessica was with Doctors for two years before deciding to take her leave in 2016.
She made a huge impression, including winning best newcomer at the British Soap Awards.
And the role on the BBC1 daytime series, which is shot on a tight budget and filmed at a relentless pace, couldn’t have been more of a perfect fit.
“My agent sent me the breakdown of the character of Niamh and I thought, well if I ever had a shot at being a series regular this is it. . . ‘Irish, early 30s, clumsy, chatty’. It could have been my dating profile!
“I’d guested previously on Doctors and I really enjoyed it.
“Doctors achieves the unachievable so often in terms of pages filmed every day. And the stories span all genres, so I was attracted to the acting opportunities that would come with all that.
“I was quite frank in the audition that I wanted the part and felt I could do it justice. It’s not my usual approach but sometimes it’s okay to show your hand.”
Ill Behaviour, BBC2, tonight 10pm.