Power is a State of Mind: Brassic Premiere in Manchester

When I get into Manchester I realise I've brought last year's diary, no notebook and no pen, hardly the best start to my first press screening. Still, my name is on the list and I'm welcomed into the foyer of The Printworks' Vue in time for the viewing to start. I manage to cadge a pen and use the back pages of my diary.

I'm not exactly sure how this has happened, but Sky TV have invited me to a press screening of Brassic, a new 6-part comedy series set in Hawley, Lancashire. It's Tuesday 20^th. The cast and crew have been given an arc of seats in front of the screen for a discussion before the start, including ITV's Katy Rickett, screenwriter / cast member Joe Gilgun (also Eli Dingle in Emmerdale and Woody in This is England), Cast member Ryan Sampson, Sky exec John Montague, screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst and cast members Tom Hanson and Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street and Lance Corporal Georgie Lane Our Girl).

John explains that Brassic is part of Sky's 'biggest push' into comedy. Breeders, Intelligence and Hitmen are also new shows coming down the pipe.

We'll be getting a sneak preview of the show, which Joe describes as 'out there and potty-mouthed.' Michelle tells us that, although the characters are misfit minor criminals, the location is beautiful and was filmed offering a very different light to the image TV frequently portrays of 'grim-up-north.' It's not for BBC1. Shameless it ain't. Plenty of wide shots of the countryside lead into scenes of ponies, pikeys, stolen cars and formaldehyde, which all play their part in the twist-filled laugh-a-minute pilot. Joe describes it as 'a love letter to the North West.'

“A few people have said, 'It reminds me of where I'm from,'” says Joe. “Little towns where people find ways to survive. I grew up in Chorley. I've had a colourful past.” He takes a sip of beer. “I'm pissed, by the way.” This gets a cheer.

Michelle agreed, as a northern lass, that it was great to “come back to her roots.”

“The script made me laugh out loud. I've loved every second. It's been a year since filming ended but it felt like last month.”

The people of Hawley, the fictional town based on Chorley, are working class and underserved, something Joe hopes the show will redress, but they make the town what it is. Brassic will also highlight bipolar disorder, something Joe himself has. “It was definitely important to bring that into the show,” he tells. “The information you see is accurate, including the meds. I'm not a role model. I'm raising awareness, but I'm telling a story. I would always encourage talking therapy before medication. You must talk about those thoughts.” Joe explains he always tries to respond to people about mental health. He questions the appropriateness of multiple choice questionnaires being used with bipolar patients, in which “one minute you're up in the fucking air and the next minute you're down.”

What was also accurate were the colourful characters from which he drew inspiration: the local wheeler dealers who perhaps blurred the lines of the law. “I had to reassure people that nothing from real life will get anyone in trouble,” admits Joe. So far, so good.

“How much is true?” asks one journalist.

Joe scratches his head. “Let's not go there,” he replies. He admits he had to talk to his legal people on a few issues.

Before the talk ends the conversation weaves through similar themes to the show: researching a scene in a sex dungeon by visiting a naked club in Berlin (it's debated as to whether this was really research), Joe having a meltdown over the wrong dildo being brought to set, and actor Ryan Sampson researching his character's stutter with help from the British Stammering Association.

“One neurologist there has a stammer,” explains Ryan. “He'd he tried to kill himself. That's why no-one in the programme takes the piss. I tried to make it authentic for the stammering community.”

“Sky TV,” tells Joe, “are unbelievable. We couldn't be with a kinder network: the way they treat and promote mental health. They never missed a single note. I think that's why it is the way it is. I'm gonna need some water, me, I'm fucking smashed out of me head, I'm sorry. I forget that I've gotta eat. Y'know? I'm so off me head that I forget that you've gotta fuel yourself. I kept having these moments with my PA, Jack. I said, 'Jack-' I have a PA 'cause I can't read. It's not 'cause I want a smoothie at 3 o' fucking clock. I said to Jack, I keep having these moments, Jack, I think it's like vertigo!' He's like, 'You've not fucking eaten anything, you stupid cunt. I gave you a banana 3 hours ago and it's still in your pocket!' I'm so lucky to have the network around me.”

After this we dropped into nearby Pilcrow.