A Passionate Woman is a British two-part drama miniseries that aired on BBC One from 11 to 18 April 2010. It was written by Kay Mellor, an adaptation of her 1992 stage play, inspired by her mother's life story.
| A Passionate Woman | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Kay Mellor |
| Directed by | Antonia Bird Kay Mellor |
| Starring | Billie Piper Theo James Joe Armstrong Sue Johnston Kelly Harrison |
| Composer | Mark Bradshaw |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Nicola Shindler Polly Hill Hugo Heppell |
| Producer | Yvonne Francas |
| Production locations | Leeds, West Yorkshire, England |
| Running time | 90 minutes (x2) |
| Production company | Rollem Productions in association with Screen Yorkshire for BBC |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 11 April – 18 April 2010 |
Plot
editIn the 1950s Yorkshire, Betty Stevenson, a married mother of one, falls in love with her Polish neighbour, Alex Crazenovski, aka "Craze." The two begin an affair, and Craze sends a letter to Betty asking her to run away with him. She responds in kind, and her letter is found by Craze's pregnant wife, who promptly seeks him out at the fairground where he works and shoots him dead. With her lover dead, Betty continues her life with her husband Donald and baby Mark.[1]
The story then moves forward to the 1980s as Mark gets married and her affair becomes public knowledge.[2]
Inspiration
editKay Mellor was inspired to write the story after her mother confessed to having an affair with a Polish neighbour in the 1950s when living in a poorer area of Leeds.[3] Just like the story, the unnamed Pole was killed, which ended her mother's affair which she had kept secret for 30 years before revealing all.[4] Mellor explained that with her mother being dead for three years, it was a way of bringing her back to life.[2]
The work was originally a play that had first been performed at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 1992 before moving on to the West End theatre. Mellor admitted that the film rights had been mooted, but she feared the production would end up with "...Cher on a rooftop in Detroit".[5]
Filming locations
editFilmed in 2009, Screen Yorkshire invested £250,000 (equivalent to £423,600 in 2023) in the programme and supplied crew for the filming locations.[6] External scenes were filmed at Roundhay Park, Hyde Terrace, Hyde Park Cinema, Blenheim Square and the City Centre Market in Leeds. Additional filming was done at Bradford City Hall, St Luke's Hospital, and King's Hall and Winter Gardens in Bradford.[7][8][9] Other parts were also recorded at Studio 81 in Leeds.[10]
Episodes
edit| # | Title | Director | Writer | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Kay Mellor and Antonia Bird | Kay Mellor | 11 April 2010 |
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Kay Mellor and Antonia Bird | Kay Mellor | 18 April 2010 |
Polish adaptation
editIn 2009, Maciej Englert directed a Polish adaptation of the original play. The main roles were played by Marta Lipińska, Piotr Adamczyk and Krzysztof Kowalewski.
References
edit- ^ Walton, James (9 April 2010). "Foyle's War, ITV1, review". Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Passionate Billie Piper". Manchester Evening News. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Stelfox, Hilarie (14 October 2016). "Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman comes to Lawrence Batley Theatre". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Clayton, Emma (8 April 2010). "Bradford actors join a big-name cast in writer Kay Mellor's moving family drama". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Holmwood, Leigh (29 September 2009). "Billie Piper to follow Doctor Who with BBC1's A Passionate Woman". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "Billie Piper films in Leeds for BBC drama". Yorkshire Evening Post. 10 November 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Clayton, Emma (8 April 2010). "Home-grown stars' slice of passion". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ Clayton, Emma (11 April 2010). "BBC drama filmed in Ilkley, Bradford". Ilkley Gazette. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ Blow, John (6 January 2020). "These Yorkshire films and TV shows will already be a decade old in 2020". www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ "A Passionate Woman". Screen Yorkshire. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.