Star Studded Cast In Two New TalkbackTHAMES Productions For BBC/HBO Films

Britain's finest television, film and stage actors star alongside talented newcomers in two new films written and directed by the inimitable, award-winning auteur, Stephen Poliakoff.
Acting legends Michael Gambon and Maggie Smith lead a stellar cast, including Rupert Penry Jones (Spooks), Kelly Reilly (Mrs Henderson Presents), David Walliams (Little Britain), Ruth Wilson (Jane Eyre), Rebecca Hall (Starter for Ten) and Danny Lee Wynter, in his first role since graduating from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art this summer.
Lorraine Heggessey, CEO talkbackTHAMES, said: "talkbackTHAMES has been producing with Stephen for the past eight years and working with him is such a great privilege.
"He attracts the very best talent in the business, both in front of and behind the camera, and these films are no exception."
Controller of BBC Fiction, Jane Tranter, said: "It takes a major piece of work and a unique auteur to deliver a project that straddles two BBC channels. Stephen Poliakoff is such a talent and with the depth and breath of the amazingly gifted cast assembled across Poliakoff 2006 and Capturing Mary, I am certain that the finished product will be awe-inspiring."
In Poliakoff 2006 (working title), a major new film for BBC One, multi-award winning writer director Stephen Poliakoff explores the relationship between the two central characters, Elliot (played by Michael Gambon), a reclusive billionaire, and Joe (played Danny Lee Wynter), the teenage son of a cleaner who takes care of a grand neighbouring house.
The beautiful but dormant house is owned, though not inhabited, by Elliot who lives close by.
Stephen Poliakoff said: "I am delighted to be reunited with Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith and Rupert Penry Jones, whom I have been fortunate enough to work with before, and also to have the opportunity to work with some of the very best emerging talent in Britain today. It's very exciting to have such an exceptional cast."
The films shoot back to back at locations in central London: beginning with Poliakoff 2006 in early November 2006, with filming completing on Capturing Mary in January 2007.
Both films are co-financed, and will be licensed to and distributed internationally by HBO Films under the terms of an agreement brokered by BBC Worldwide.
The talkbackTHAMES Producer is Deborah Jones (Magnificent 7). The Executive Producers for talkbackTHAMES are Joanna Beresford and Lorraine Heggessey. The Executive Producer for the BBC is Nicolas Brown. The Creative Executives for HBO Films are Maria Zuckerman and Julie Goldstein. The Casting Director is Andy Pryor, who also cast 'Friends and Crocodiles', 'Gideon's Daughter', 'The Lost Prince', 'Perfect Strangers' and 'Shooting The Past'.
(DS/CD)