BBC One Orders Feature-Length Drama But When We Dance

Red Arrow Studios company Endor Productions and Clearwood Films have been commissioned to produce the new feature-length drama But When We Dance for BBC One.

A love story following two people with a great sense of humor, a love of dance and a Parkinson’s diagnosis in common, But When We Dance was penned by Paul Mayhew-Archer (Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot). Jonny Campbell (Doctor Who, Westworld) is directing the 90-minute drama.

Mayhew-Archer said: “People with Parkinson’s are also funny and loving and irrepressibly optimistic, and I know this because I’m one of them. When I was first diagnosed, my neurologist, who is a lovely man, told me: ‘You seem to find it quite hard to smile.’ Well, I thought, maybe that’s because you’ve just told me I have Parkinson’s.”

The BBC’s Hilary Bevan Jones said: “But When We Dance is a captivating and unusual love story that Paul has written with warmth and wit. Tony and Emma have every reason not to fall in love—both live with a progressive disease that is currently incurable. But the experience of living with Parkinson’s can be mysterious as it can give as well as take away.”

Lucy Richer, senior commissioning editor for drama at the BBC, said: “Paul writes with honesty, humor and hope about an important subject which will impact on many of us in our lifetimes. We are very proud to tell this story on BBC One.”