- Imogen Poots in Bouquet of Barbed Wire - Photo from ITV and Carnival Films
ITV has remade the 1976 shocker Bouquet of Barbed Wire into a three-part drama due to start on Monday 6 September 2010. Based on the 1969 novel by Andrea Newman, Bouquet of Barbed Wire tells the story of how obsessive father Peter Manson (played by Trevor Eve) reacts when he finds his daughter Prue (played by Imogen Poots) has been made pregnant by her teacher Gavin Sorenson (played by Tom Riley). But Peter’s wife Cassie Manson (played by Hermione Norris) discovers that there is more to Peter’s past than she first thought.
This is a dark, psychological drama that dips into taboo subjects surrounding sexual obsession. The original seven-part production pulled in 26 million viewers in 1976 and led to a sequel Another Bouquet the following year.
“We’re at the end of 2010 and the original came out in the 1970s,” said Hermione Norris in the official ITV press release about the show. “Television is a completely different medium now. In the 1970s it was complete taboo to see anything like this on television. Now, however, we have seen everything on television. We are used to seeing nudity, people swearing, people behaving badly – there are no surprises. I think it’s a very intelligently written and well-observed script. It is scandalous and disturbing and that’s how it should be. It’s not gratuitous, lascivious or superficial. I think it’s as disturbing as it’s appropriate for the relationships involved.”
The Actors in Bouquet of Barbed Wire
Trevor Eve first came to fame playing Bill Davenport in 1977’s London Belongs to Me and 1980’s Shoestring. More recently, he has played Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in Walking the Dead. Hermione Norris’ role as Ros Myers in Spooks earned her the award for Best Actress at the 2008 ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards. She also starred as Karen Marsden in Cold Feet and Beatrice Kingdom in Kingdom.
Though only twenty-one years old, Imogen Poots has already attracted attention and was nominated in the 2007 British Independent Film Awards for most promising newcomer for her role as Tammy in 28 Weeks Later. Other roles have included Young Valerie in V for Vendetta and she is due to play Blanche Ingram in a film adaptation of Jane Eyre.
Tom Riley played Romeo in St Trinian’s 2 and Mr Wickham in the TV show Lost in Austin. Bouquet of Barbed Wire also features another Lost in Austin star, Jemima Rooper as Sarah Francis. She came to fame playing George in the 1997 TV adaptation of Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five and starred as Thelma Bates in Hex.
The Team Behind Bouquet of Barbed Wire
Bouquet of Barbed Wire was written by Guy Andrews based on the book by Andrea Newman. Directed by Ashley Pearce (Class of 74), produced by Mammoth Screen and commissioned by ITV1, the drama was filmed on location around London.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
