The BBC has announced that it’s upcoming newspaper drama Press has begun production following the initial announcements of the show and ensemble cast. Stars already confirmed include David Suchet (Poirot) who will play the Chairman & CEO of Worldwide News, owner of fictional newspaper The Post and Charlotte Riley (Peaky Blinders) will play the Deputy News Editor of rival broadsheet, The Herald.
It’s the latest show from writer and producer Mike Bartlett whose previous work includes Doctor Foster and King Charles III. With filming now on the way should start to see a images from the sex to give us more of an idea what to expect from the upcoming drama.
Air date
An official broadcast date hasn’t been confirmed as of yet by the BBC. It has announced that way it will air in 2018, but with filming only beginning in October 2017, it’s likely to be all that early next year. There will be 6 x 60-minute episodes in the first series of the show, so it’s going to be fairly weighty with a lot of your viewing time to take it.
If you’re based outside of the UK, the series will be airing on PBS in 2018, following its transmission on BBC 1.
Story
Press will take a deep dive into the mad world of newspaper journalism as the writers, editors and chiefs of the two fictional news powerhouses trade blows chasing the biggest stories. It will see them juggling the intensity of their work and career ambitions with the ups and downs of their personal lives, as morality and integrity churn among the demands of selling news.
Cast
David Suchet and Charlotte Riley will be joined by Ben Chaplin (The Thin Red Line) as the Editor of The Post and Priyanga Burford (King Charles III) as his opposite number at The Herald. The cast also includes Paapa Essiedu (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) as The Post’s newest reporter, Shane Zaza (The Da Vinci Code) as its News Editor, Ellie Kendrick (Game Of Thrones) as a junior reporter, Al Weaver (The Hollow Crown) as an investigative journalist and Brendan Cowell (Young Vic’s Yerma) as the Deputy Editor at The Herald.
Production
Mike Bartlett has written the story script, Tom Vaughn (Victoria) is the director and Paul Gilbert (Humans) is the producer. Faith Penhale, Mike Bartlett, Bethan Jones, Nigel Stafford-Clark, Mona Qureshi and Rebecca Eaton are the executive producers.
Press is being created by Lookout Point, BBC Studios, Deep Indigo and Masterpiece for BBC 1.
First impressions
BBC 1’s Press looks set to be the new buzz drama and with so much interest in the world of journalist over the last few years, it’s going to be fascinating to see how much of the scandals it picks up on. Phone tapping, Police bribes, undercover entrapment and political motivations have all been called into question, so there’s a lot for the series to cover.
The cast looks fairly impressive with David Suchet an absolute banker for great performances whether it’s the comedy of Decline And Fall or his iconic role as Hercule Poirot. Charlotte Riley has been very impressive in Peaky Blinders and with her upcoming return for Series 4, she’s clearly in demand, so should be a big reason to give Press a watch when the air date rolls around in 2018.
