Daisy Haggard

Few TV thrillers have been favourably compared to Tarantino, the Coen brothers and Wes Anderson but Two Brothers Pictures’ ambitious six-part Boat Story, starring Daisy Haggard, Tchéky Karyo and Paterson Joseph, is no run-of-the-mill action series.

This multi-layered show, which started its run on BBC One in late November, begins conventionally enough, with Janet (Haggard) out walking on a wintry Yorkshire beach. However, the down-on-her-luck Janet discovers a washed-up boat containing two dead bodies and cocaine worth millions.

It’s no coincidence, the role of Janet was written specifically for Haggard. Having previously collaborated with Haggard on Back To Life, screenwriters and producers Harry and Jack Williams know that exhibiting a variety of emotions is where she likes to be.

“They kind of thought ‘we'll give Daisy what she's comfortable doing’, which quite often is going - [Haggard contorts her face to show a range of emotions]."

Harry and Jack Williams have written the series and will also produce under their award-winning All3Media company, Two Brothers Pictures (Fleabag).

Daisy Haggard and Paterson Joseph will star as two hard-up strangers, Janet and Samuel, who stumble across a load of cocaine on a shipwreck.

They can't believe their luck, but after agreeing to sell it and split the money, they quickly find themselves entangled with police, masked hitmen and a suited-and-booted gangster known only as 'The Tailor' (Tcheky Karyo).

The third series is currently underway and winning plaudits, starring Daisy Haggard and Martin Freeman as the titular breeders: a modern day mother and father at their wits’ end.

The story is set just days after series two ended, as the Worsley family reels from troubled teen Luke (Alex Eastwood) hitting his dad, Paul (Freeman).

Paul has moved out to go and stay at his mother-in-law Leah’s (Stella Gonet) house, and although his life should be lonely, the peace and quiet does have its appeal. Sooner or later, however, he must make peace with Luke.

Once again exploring the challenges of modern parenting, the third series of Breeders picks up days after season two ended, with the Worsley family reeling from teenager Luke (Alex Eastwood) punching his dad, Paul (Freeman).

Paul has moved out to his mother-in-law Leah’s (Stella Gonet) house, and while he should be feeling put out by the loneliness, the simpler life is proving to be more appealing. Eventually, though, the father and son must make amends.

I opened the door and f****** exploded.” Dreams can be wild – stories that our minds involuntarily create as we sleep. While most of us forget them the next morning, Martin Freeman had one five or six years ago that became the inspiration for a TV series.  

“I knew I had gone through this many times in real life… I was going up the stairs to go and shout at my children,” he recalled. “With each step, I was talking myself down: ‘You know you’re better than this, and they won’t respond positively.’  

The dream occurred five or six years ago. “I knew I’d gone through this many times in real life. I was going up the stairs to shout at my children,” he recalls.     

“With each step I was talking myself down ‘You know you’re better than this and they won’t respond positively.’  

“I thought I’d got the better of my temper before I opened the children’s bedroom door, but I opened the door and exploded.”  

Co-created by and starring Daisy Haggard, the first series of Back To Life follows Miri Matterson as she returned to her quiet seaside town after a lengthy spell in prison.

Having entered prison during her formative years as a young adult, the series comically traverses her naïve attempts to fit into the modern world that has changed significantly in the 18 years she has spent away from it.

Over the course of the six-part series, her community’s refusal to accept her catalyses the reveal of the truth behind her crime.

Created by Peep Show writer Simon Blackwell, comedian Chris Addison and Martin Freeman (Sherlock), Breeders will explore the complex feelings of parenting and the paradox of the love and hatred parents feel towards their children.

Co-creator Freeman (Sherlock) will also star in the sitcom as a doting father who discovers he is not the man he thought he was.