Uma Thurman, Rhys Ifans and Tom Wilkinson star in two plays for BBC Two
Uma Thurman (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, Enduring Love), Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean, Leatherheads) and Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum, My Summer of Love) star in two film adaptations of acclaimed stage plays to be shown on BBC Two this year.
David Hare's My Zinc Bed and Caryl Churchill's A Number have been adapted by the playwrights for television in a co-production between BBC and HBO Films.
My Zinc Bed tells the story of penniless but gifted poet Paul Peplow (Paddy Considine), a recovering alcoholic who is sent to interview wealthy internet entrepreneur Victor Quinn (Jonathan Pryce).
Paul finds himself employed by Victor and subsequently encounters his employer's wife Elsa (Uma Thurman), herself a recovering alcoholic.
Elsa recognises in Paul a kindred spirit and the two embark on an affair, their addictive natures at once pulling them together and driving them apart.
Tom Wilkinson and Rhys Ifans play father and son, Salter and Bernard, in A Number.
But the nature of their relationship is brought into question when Bernard learns he is just one of an unidentified number of clones.
As Bernard comes to terms with this shocking news, and his father defends and explains his actions, questions of human identity, nature versus nurture and the morality of cloning are explored.
Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, says: "The single play is an integral part of the overall BBC drama picture, we aim to make and transmit around 26 original singles for television per year, and we're delighted that this year plays from David Hare and Caryl Churchill, two of the UK's most proflic and significant playwrights, have found their home on BBC Two and are helping to shine a light on the BBC's overall committment to the television single."
My Zinc Bed is directed by Anthony Page (Middlemarch), produced by Tracey Scoffield, Frank Doelger and Lee Morris, and Executive Produced by Robert Fox and David Thompson for the BBC.
A Number is directed by James MacDonald and is produced by Tracey Scoffield, Frank Doelger and Lee Morris and Executive Produced by David Thompson for the BBC.
Both films were produced by Rainmark Films, the company behind Primo, the one-off drama shown on BBC Four in January 2008 for which Anthony Sher received a Best Actor BAFTA-nomination.
My Zinc Bed and A Number were commissioned by Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, and are BBC/HBO co-productions.
The one-off dramas follow the success of the recent Curse Of Comedy single dramas on BBC Four, BAFTA-nominated Stuart: A Life Backwards (BBC Two) and the BAFTA and Ivor Novello-nominated Primo (BBC Four).
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Askey replies..
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