Being Eileen
| Being Eileen | |
|---|---|
Title card (Series 1 onwards)
|
|
| Also known as | Lapland |
| Genre | Comedy-drama |
| Created by | Michael Wynne |
| Written by | Michael Wynne |
| Directed by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Theme music composer | Simon Lacey Mark Thomas |
| Opening theme | "Eileen" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 7 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Rosemary McGowan |
| Location(s) |
Lapland Birkenhead |
| Editor(s) | Jamie Pearson Mark Davies |
| Running time | 30 minutes (Formally 75 minutes, originally intended to be 90 minutes) |
| Production company(s) | BBC |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC One BBC HD BBC Two (Sign Zone) |
| Picture format | 1080p (HDTV) |
| Original release | 24 December 2011 – 11 March 2013 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Being Eileen is a BBC "heart-warming" comedy-drama which began as a new six-part series on 4 February, and ended on 11 March 2013. Originally titled Lapland, it was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 24 December 2011, the channel the series airs on. Although initially a single 75-minute episode which was set in Lapland, Finland, it was announced as a series renamed Being Eileen, consisting of six 30 minute episodes, due to the success of the single episode, which was viewed by 6.9 million viewers upon its original airing. The series also aired on BBC Two as part of Sign Zone, which features sign language throughout. The series was released on DVD on 1 April 2013.
The series, written by Michael Wynne, features an ensemble cast. Headed by Sue Johnston, who plays Eileen Lewis, the programme focusses on her, the widowed matriarch of a "large, close-knit and dysfunctional Northern family". The single episode focused on the family's visit to Lapland, whilst the series focusses on their life in Birkenhead. Elizabeth Berrington and Stephen Graham (later recast to Dean Andrews) play Eileen's children, whilst William Ash and Julie Graham play their partners. All the cast - Johnston, Berrington, Ash, Julie Graham and Keith Barron- a love interest for Eileen - returned for the series, with the exception of Stephen Graham and Zawe Ashton, who played Jingle Jill.
Michael Wynne, an award-winning playwright, wrote the first script for Lapland. He said in an interview, "I just went on a day trip, which was pretty hardcore. It was a three-hour trip there and back. I went a couple of weeks before Christmas, and it was stressful enough then". The kind of pressure that would build when it's actually Christmas and everyone wants it to be perfect is just a gift to write about. I thought it would be good if a big, messy family like my own went away". When the cast and crew arrived on location in Norway, Wynne said that they had to do "a bit of rewriting" due to there being no snow falling whilst they were filming, to which he said, "They're not really looking for snow. And they get to make jokes about climate change and it all looking like Aberystwyth". The episode was originally supposed to last 90 minutes, but was cut down to 75. Although set in Lapland, the scenes were filmed in Norway. Sue Johnston said, "We flew to Tromso and then travelled an hour north and stayed on an army barracks". Producer Rosemary McGowan said, "Michael Wynne has skilfully brought to life one ordinary family's chaotic experience of Christmas in a way that will have people all over the country chuckling in recognition. Funny, warm but also moving". Johnston teased the series, "Stephen Graham plays my son and his wife (Julie Graham) has some killer funny lines. She doesn’t want to be there at all and her kids are very, very naughty. Then there's my daughter and her husband, who's a boring know-it-all who keeps going on about seeing The Northern Lights, plus their two children who are lovely".
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