The cast of This Life return next week for a one-off 90 minute special entitled This Life + 10 which finally reveals what happened after that final explosive installment which left a devoted audience begging for more.
Miles (Jack Davenport), Milly (Amita Dhiri), Warren (Jason Hughes), Egg (Andrew Lincoln) and Anna (Daniela Nardini) all return for the drama which is penned by original series creator Amy Jenkins and produced by Tony Garnett.
“It’s ten years on and there have been big changes in the characters’ lives. They’re no longer in the waiting room of life but out there on centre stage. The question is – do people really change?” explains Jenkins.
Andrew Lincoln who plays Egg says one thing hasn’t changed – the chemistry and relationship between the cast. “There was a moment when it all fell into place and we all remembered who our characters were, a bit like ‘oh, I remember him’.” says Lincoln.
Jason Hughes the actor behind Warren, one of the most successful gay characters of all time, agrees: “Something happened at the read-through, which was the first time that as a group we read the script.
“I think Jack started mucking about really early on started making irreverent comments about the script or us reading it and as soon as he did that, something happened and it caught fire and then collectively I think we all went ‘Ah. It’s us again! Here we are, it’s you, it’s you, it’s you!’”
When a reunion was first suggested the cast expressed some initial reservations as Jack Davenport (Miles) explains. “I think we were all apprehensive because the draw is to do something 10 years later and it’s not often you get to do something like this, and it’s been such a long time since we’ve been together as a group. To be expected to pick it up is daunting but it’s been really easy and it’s felt right.”
So what finally persuaded the team to reunite? Amita Dhiri who returns as Milly has the answer “When we saw that the script was so good, we all thought ‘wow, this really could work’”.
The characters have all moved on with their lives with one of the group now enjoying commercial success after writing a book based on their friendship and a TV production company is keen to film the group’s reunion.
However it’s not only the characters who are noticing changes in their lives as Daniela Nardini (Anna) explains. “Ten years ago we didn’t have dressing rooms as we had one big green room so we all hung out together.
“We’d all be together from 8am until 8pm and I don’t know how we learnt any lines! It was relentless.
“Now we all have Winnebagos and you realise that as you get older, you like your space! Especially as I was projectile vomiting as I was in the early stages of pregnancy while filming.”
This Life + 10 airs 9pm Tuesday 2 January 2007 on BBC Two. A DVD release is scheduled for 26th of Februar.