Channel 4 Commissions New Drama from Clerkenwell

Channel 4 has ordered Truelove, a new drama from Clerkenwell Films, the team behind the BAFTA award-winning The End of the F***ing World and the upcoming series The Birth of Daniel F Harris.

With a core cast in their late 60s and 70s, Truelove follows a duo who were teenage sweethearts and despite life having moved on, they never quite managed to forget each other. They are reunited, along with a gang of old friends, at a friend’s funeral many years later, and the group makes a pact to help each other to experience dignified death when the time comes.

It stars Julie Walters (National Treasure, Indian Summers) and Clarke Peters (The Wire, Da 5 Bloods).

Truelove is written by Iain Weatherby (Humans) and co-created by him and Charlie Covell (The End of the F***ing World).

Caroline Hollick, Channel 4’s head of drama, said: “Truelove is a unique, poignant and darkly funny series which deals with big themes around regrets at the paths not taken, quality of life and serious illness. Beautifully written and with actors of the caliber of Julie Walters and Clarke Peters playing the leads, Truelove is an exciting addition to Channel 4’s upcoming portfolio of dramas. I can’t wait to see the series come to life.”

Petra Fried, joint managing director at Clerkenwell Films, added: “Iain and Charlie have created a truly special series full of emotion, edge-of-the-seat drama and pitch-black comedy. A story about a demographic that’s rarely given center stage on television, tackling the serious issues of love, life, illness and death, and handling them with warmth, sensitivity, humor and the youthful energy of a graphic novel. Producer Alex Walsh-Taylor and director Elliot Hegarty have assembled a brilliant team to make this, and we couldn’t be more excited to see Julie Walters, Clarke Peters and the rest of the incredible cast bring these iconic characters to life over the coming months.”

Covell commented: “I’m so thrilled that we’re making Truelove with and for Channel 4. I owe my career to the channel: from the 4Screenwriting course with Philip Shelley, to my first solo credit on Russell T Davies’ Banana, to The End of the F***ing World. Iain and I also got our first joint writing credit on C4, with Humans. It’s a great privilege to be working with the channel again. I can’t think of a more appropriate home for Truelove.”

Walters said: “I had basically withdrawn from acting and wasn’t sure that anything could tempt me back, but then I read Truelove. I was completely bowled over by the writing—the dark humor, the love story and thriller element set against a backdrop of what happens to us all as we approach our later years. I adore the character of Phil—smart, funny and hard-edged. How often does one have the chance at my tender age to play a leading lady in a TV drama? I can’t wait to start and to work with Channel 4 again, a broadcaster with a remit that is so vital to the industry and viewers.”

Peters said: “If your friend reached a soul-destroying level of decrepitude, could you help them transition if asked? Would it be right, would it be noble, could you do it? Which of that internal triumvirate do you listen to: your head, heart or soul? You know it is illegal in law and scripture to take a life, but could you do it? Iain and Charlie’s scripts explore that moral dilemma in a way I’ve never seen before. It’s funny, it’s dark, and it’s full of twists and turns. And DAMN! To tell this story, with this cast, was something I would have dreaded missing out on…Roll on ‘action’!”

Caroline Stone, director of indie drama at BBC Studios, which wholly owns Clerkenwell, said, “Our partners at Clerkenwell Films have a proven track record of bending the rules of a conventional drama and bringing something new and exciting to a series, and Truelove is no exception. Together Iain and Charlie have created a hugely entertaining series that smuggles big subjects into the narrative. This promises to be a cinematic, nuanced and thrilling series for audiences around the world. We are very proud to be a partner on this project alongside the team at Channel 4, and it is not surprising that acting royalty have come on board as the leads. This will be a series not to be missed.”