Jimmy McGovern finds a great source of drama in The Street

Oct 27 2007 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

THERE'S a story in every one of us, but only the talented know how to use them. Laura Davis reports on the new series of The Street

WHEN Jimmy McGovern’s Bafta-winning drama was launched with the tagline "behind every door in every street, there’s a story waiting to be told", it was something he had learned from personal experience.

For the Liverpool screenwriter cannot enjoy a quiet pint without someone coming over to share their tale.

"Everyone has at least one story to tell. I know that from bitter experience because every time I go into the boozer, someone comes up to me and says, ‘Have I got a story for you!’," laughs the father-of-three.

"I go to this card school every week in a certain Liverpool pub and it can be quite annoying when I’m trying to play a hand while someone’s telling me their life-story. There are some great stories out there. Unfortunately, they haven’t always happened to writers!

"(In The Street) I place ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, but in every episode we can still identify with those characters and think ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I’."

After the explosive success of the first series, which scooped Best Drama Series at both the Baftas and the RTS awards and is currently awaiting the results of two Emmy nominations, the second series comes with high expectations.

The six-parter, which was filmed in and around Manchester over the summer and will be shown on BBC1 from next month, again features six stand-alone stories of individual characters who happen to live on the same road.

As he did with the original series, McGovern has mentored new writers, working with them to create strong storylines with universal appeal.

"I do a polish at the end of their scripts," he explains. "It’s not merely for the sake of it. It’s to impose a single authorial voice on all six episodes. Otherwise, the series could be all over the place in theme and tone."

His advice to those just starting out?

"Write what you know," he declares. "I mine my own life for material. It gives it more authenticity, especially when you’re surprised by how you feel.

"When you put those emotions into a script, they have the smack of authenticity. It endows a script with so much more richness if it comes from your own life."

Although much credit for the series’ success was given to the actors – Jim Broadbent can claim one of the Emmy nominations for his portrayal of a dedicated warehouse foreman forced into early retirement – its producers are quick to praise 57-year-old McGovern’s keenness to involve new talent.

"What is exciting and continues to be exciting about The Street is not only Jimmy McGovern’s writing, but his work with new writers who bring their raw talent to the project," says co-executive producer Sita Williams.

"It is also testimony to Jimmy’s writing that (the series) will continue to attract the best actors in British drama today."

John Chapman, of ITV Productions which confusingly created the programme for BBC1, chimes in: "Jimmy attracts the best people. People genuinely loved the first series, so you can go to anyone and offer them a part and they’re likely to accept.