Alan Bennett's Talking Heads...

I used to love Alan Bennett's Talking Heads when they were first broadcast on television way back in the late 90s and late 00s. Single-handers, they were both funny and moving. Back then the monologues had famous names like Julie Walters, Maggie Smith and Patricia Routledge attached.

Well, a brand new adaptation of them all is coming to the BBC soon - with a clutch of new stars rerecording them (and an extra couple of plays added to boot).

The series will start 9pm next Tuesday 23rd June with casts including Jodie Comer, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Tamsin Greig, Martin Freeman, Lucian Msmati and more. All episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer from that date too.

All of the films were shot with casts and crews socially distancing, with a full list of those involved below.

The full line up is:
Jodie Comer in Her Big Chance (1988), directed by Josie Rourke
Monica Dolan in The Shrine (2019), directed by Nicholas Hytner
Martin Freeman in A Chip in the Sugar (1988), directed by Jeremy Herrin
Tamsin Greig in Nights in the Garden of Spain (1998), directed by Marianne Elliott
Sarah Lancashire in An Ordinary Woman (2019), directed by Hytner
Lesley Manville in Bed Among the Lentils (1988), directed by Hytner
Lucian Msamati in Playing Sandwiches (1998), directed by Herrin
Maxine Peake in Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet (1988), directed by Sarah Frankcom
Rochenda Sandall in The Outside Dog (1998), directed by Nadia Fall
Kristin Scott Thomas in The Hand of God (1998), directed by Jonathan Kent
Imelda Staunton in A Lady of Letters (1988), directed by Kent
Harriet Walter in Soldiering On (1988), directed by Elliott