Northern Irish actors Bronagh Gallagher, Jayne Wisener and Andrew Simpson have all been cast in upcoming BBC series ‘The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby’, which is currently shooting in Belfast.
Kindle Entertainment has confirmed that the actors will join the strong Northern Irish production cast and crew, which also includes Adrian Dunbar (Hear My Song).
Simpson, best known for starring opposite Cate Blanchett in ‘Notes on a Scandal’, takes the lead as Nick Nickleby in the modern re-working of the Dickens classic. Simpson can also be seen in 'All That Way For Love' which will screen at the Galway Film Fleadh on July 13.
Gallagher will play Nick’s mother, and will also feature in a Fleadh screening of ‘Grabbers’, which will open the festival on July 10.
Wisener, who recently celebrated success as the lead in ‘A Kiss for Jed’, plays Nick’s sister Kat.
The production has been shooting in Belfast since June 11, and is expected to film in the area until July 27. The setting is a modern day nursing home, with Nick Nickleby making it his mission to investigate the abuse of the elderly residents. The five-part series is based on Dickens’ iconic novel from 1839, but Nicholas has been changed to Nick, and victim Smike has been transformed from a young boy to the elderly Mrs. Smike, played by London actress Linda Bassett (Calendar Girls).
Adrian Dunbar, from Fermanagh, who has had roles in ‘The General’, ‘Mickybo & Me’, and the highly-anticipated ‘Good Vibrations’, plays the role of Uncle Ralph, while London-based Caitlin Joseph (The Borgias) plays Maddy Bhray, and Jonathan Harden has been cast as Newman Noggs.
David Innes-Edwards is directing all five episodes, four of which have been written by Joy Wilkinson (Doctors) and one which was written by Dominique Moloney (Land Girls).
Sue Breen is producing for London-based Kindle, while Melanie Stokes and Anne Brogan are executive producing. Northern Irish Jim Creagh (Give My Head Some Peace) is the director of photography, and Nick Emerson will edit for Down-based Yellow Moon.
IFTA-winning Hazel Webb-Crozier (Mickybo & Me, Your Highness) from Belfast is the costume designer on the project.
Northern Ireland Screen is co-funding the project, and was the ideal organisation to back the series according to Kindle director Anne Brogan, as the production company previously worked with NI Screen on pre-school show ‘Big and Small’.
BBC One will air ‘The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby’ in a daytime slot in the autumn.
