John
Hurt stars in The Alan Clark Diaries for Ö÷²¥´óÐã FOUR
Starts
Thursday 15 January 2004, 10.00pm, Ö÷²¥´óÐã FOUR
 John
Hurt stars as Alan Clark, the flamboyant, outspoken and controversial
Conservative MP, in the Ö÷²¥´óÐã FOUR six-part drama of The Alan Clark
Diaries.
The
series focuses on the infamous diaries during Clark's political
career from 1983 to his death in 1999.
Hurt,
the multi-award winning actor whose numerous definitive roles have
included Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and John Merrick
in The Elephant Man, says:
"My reason for doing The Alan Clark Diaries is that I've always
enjoyed playing individuals and you can't get more individual than
Alan Clark, who was larger than life. That was exactly the appeal
of the role."
Alan
Clark, with his irreverent wit, aristocratic good looks and predilection
for gaffes and scandal, was one of the most colourful figures in
modern politics.
Love
him - or love to hate him - his vibrant, unconventional style sent
a blast of fresh air through the stuffy corridors of power, adding
a dazzling touch of glamour to politics.
Forever
manoeuvring his way to the top, he never fulfilled his ambitions
to be in the Cabinet.
Yet
he was an influential figure on the political landscape and a man
who, more often to the Government's despair than delight, was never
long out of the public eye.
Hailed
as a modern-day Pepys, Clark wormed his way into the public's affection
through his diaries and their withering, often hilarious observations
of high Tories, low morals, political back-biting and cabinet inertia.
Set
in a pre-New Labour world of rural castles and Albany Chambers,
the diaries are part swan-song for a time when Conservatives ruled
Britannia and Etonians ran the country, and part insight into the
psychology of a man born with the whole silver canteen in his mouth.
A strong
supporting cast includes Jenny Agutter (Spooks) as Clark's wife
Jane; Victoria Smurfit (Trial and Retribution, About A Boy) is Clark's
secret mistress 'X' and Julia Davis (Human Remains) is Jenny Easterbrook,
Clark's frosty Secretary.
Producer
Kate Lewis took on the challenge of bringing Clark to the screen.
She
says: "I thought the diaries were absolutely fantastic when
I read them. He's such a colourful character and Clark wrote very
well indeed.
"He
was really very articulate, very funny, had great comic timing and
he was a great observer as well. His irreverent tone, coming from
the inside of politics, is a fantastic formula for diaries."
Lewis
brought on board writer/director Jon Jones, whose previous credits
include The Debt and Cold Feet.
She
says: "We concentrate largely on In Power, the second volume
of the diaries. Jon and I established that we wanted to take Clark
from the time he got his first job in politics, when he actually
became a player within the Government, through to his death.
"That
makes a perfect dramatic arc because it's the rise and fall and
rise again of a fascinating man.
"We
really wanted to bring out the wit and the fun and the intrigue
of the diaries. Jon also saw the very compassionate heart of the
books: he really had a very clear sense of their emotional core."
Clark's
wife Jane was an integral part of the project and was a consultant
on the series.
Lewis
continues: "Jane was rightly concerned that we were truthful
to the diaries and that we got all the balances and complexities
of them.
"I
think that Clark has often been portrayed in the press as being
a philandering toff and she wanted to be sure we were going to present
him as more of a three-dimensional character and not just as a philandering
rogue.
"He's
much more complicated than that, and that's one of the appeals of
the entire project. You very rarely get such rich characterisation.
"She
was remarkably open about his affairs. We talked to her about the
way we were going to do X, Clark's unnamed mistress, and about other
philandering incidents.
"What
made it easy in our relations with Jane is that we never wanted
to just play into people's expectations of Clark. What's great about
the diaries is that there is so much more than that."
Casting
the lead role of Alan Clark was crucial to the success of the project.
"We
were very aware that we had a part here that could attract a very
high profile actor and we set our sights very high. We knew exactly
who we wanted," says Kate Lewis.
"John
Hurt is a character actor who can absorb himself into a role, a
chameleon.
"We
needed an actor with a considerable range who could not only catch
all the complexities of Clark's character but also somebody who
had the experience and professionalism to carry off what was an
incredibly hard shoot.
"John
just fitted the bill absolutely perfectly. It
was like he was born to play it.
"What
was particularly alluring about John was his great vulnerability
and that was really important for us because we wanted people to
like Clark, for all his faults. I think John Hurt brings a real
humanity to Alan Clark in the piece.
"When
we arrived at Saltwood Castle, the Clarks' home, the crew's face
lit up as we came through those amazing gates, with the moat and
peacocks strutting around.
"Jane
was very welcoming to us and it was actually quite moving to be
reconstructing some of these scenes with her around because Jon
Jones and I had become really fond of Alan Clark as a character.
"It
was rather special to be starting the shoot off in the house where
he lived, that he loved so much. Saltwood and Jane were really the
centre of Clark's life.
"We
talked to Jane about the casting of John Hurt as Alan Clark and
she was delighted. She thought he was absolutely perfect because
she wanted somebody who was a serious actor of great stature to
play Clark.
"John
cares very much about the parts he does. I think if Jane had not
wanted him to play Clark he would have found it quite difficult.
One of the first questions he asked me was, 'What does Jane Clark
think about this, is she on board for this series?'"
Jane
Clark was indeed on board, as the Ö÷²¥´óÐã needed her permission to make
the series.
When
Alan was alive the Clarks had been approached for their permission
to adapt the diaries for the stage, but he and Jane were unhappy
with the adaptation and didn't allow it to continue.
Four
years after Alan's death, Jane was ready to have her forthright
husband's views immortalised on screen:
"The
Ö÷²¥´óÐã approached me through Alan's agent and I said I was interested.
I saw a page of ideas and I said, 'Yes, let's go for it'.
"I
was a bit worried when they said they needed a writer. I remember
saying, 'It's been written!' I thought they were
going to change everything.
"When
the scripts arrived I looked at them rather balefully on the kitchen
table. I did read one and my initial reaction was, 'Oh my God, I'm
in it!' It hadn't occurred to me that I was going to be part of
it! I was thinking, 'I'm not remotely interesting. Why am I going
to be in it?'
"I
gave episode one to Lynne, who's my wonderful Yorkshire housekeeper
and who is extremely sensible. She was very sound, she said, 'No
no, it's fine'. I then read them all and was very happy with them."
For
the woman who was married to Alan Clark for an astonishing 41 years,
it must have been difficult to picture who would be the right actor
to take the lead role.
Jane
explains: "I
thought the casting of John Hurt was brilliant. When he smiles he's
just got that wonderful mischievous smile, he smiles with his eyes
as well. I thought yes, he'd see the point of Al."
It
was strange for Jane to see herself immortalised on screen.
"It's
a great honour for me to be played by Jenny Agutter, I am absolutely
delighted. During filming I found Jenny more difficult to watch
than John because I could see myself in her and watch her look across
the lawn, with the same sort of haircut and wearing a Barbour and
jeans. It was quite uncanny."
Since
seeing the completed series, Jane is impressed:
"I
found a mixture of how suddenly I became quite emotional at odd
bits, especially in the first episode when he talks about starting
again, but he couldn't because of me. Moments when I felt a tinge
of emotion.
"But
at other times I was just laughing so much it was brilliant. Al
was a great character and there was very much more to him than I
think some people thought."
Roly
Keating, Controller of Ö÷²¥´óÐã FOUR, concludes: "John Hurt is one
of the most compelling of British screen actors and we're delighted
to have lured him back to television for this project.
"Alan
Clark's Diaries may not be the most balanced of political journals,
but they are indisputably the funniest, and John is the perfect
person to capture Clark's outrageous, roguish wit."
The
Alan Clark Diaries is adapted for the screen by Jon Jones who also
directs, with Andrew Davies as script consultant.
Kate
Lewis is producing and executive producers are Laura Mackie, Philippa
Giles and Richard Fell.
Other
forthcoming dramas on Ö÷²¥´óÐã FOUR this winter, complementing The Alan
Clark Diaries, include:
Éù
The
Tricycle Theatre production of Justifying War – Scenes
from the Hutton Inquiry, edited by Richard Norton-Taylor
and Nicholas Kent and directed by Nicholas Kent and Charlotte Westenra.
The
cast include David Michaels as Alastair Campbell, David Fleeshman
as Gavyn Davies, William Chubb as Andrew Gilligan and James Woolley
as Lord Hutton.
Éù
Kwame
Kwei-Armah's acclaimed award-winning play Elmina's Kitchen,
directed by Angus Jackson, with the original National Theatre cast
of Paterson Joseph, Shaun Parkes, George Harris, Oscar James, Dona
Croll and Emmanuel Idowu.
Éù
The
Three Sisters, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Robert Bathurst,
James Fleet and Douglas Hodge, directed by award-winner Michael
Blakemore.
Éù
Hotel
In Amsterdam, the John Osborne play that premiered in 1968
and recently enjoyed a critically acclaimed run at London's Donmar
Warehouse.
Starring
Tom Hollander and Olivia Williams, the play is directed for the
screen by Julian Jarrold.
John
Hurt is Alan Clark
Alan
Clark's roguish recollections
Jenny
Agutter is Jane Clark
Notes
to Editors
Enter
the danger zone of politics with Ö÷²¥´óÐã FOUR this Winter (10.12.03)
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