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| left-to-right: Lacey Turner, Hannah Tointon, Nina Toussaint-White & Phoebe Fox |
Touchpaper Television, the production company who make Being Human for the BBC, are stretching their wings with a brand new supernatural drama for ITV2. Switch will star Lacey Turner (EastEnders) and Hannah Tointon (Hollyoaks) as witches living in London's Camden Town, together with Nina Toussaint-White (Doctor Who) and Phoebe Fox (Black Mirror).
This coven of modern-day witches—fashionable career girl Stella (Turner), spontaneous Hannah (Tointon), insatiable Jude (Toussaint-White), and traditionalist Grace (Fox)—try to balance their complicated city lives with their interest in witchcraft, while competing with enemy coven "The Witches of Kensington" (Alexa, India, Romola and Remy).
The six-part supernatural drama has been written by Chloe Moss (Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, Prisoners' Wives) and Tim Price (EastEnders).
Rob Pursey, executive-producer:
"Switch is an upbeat, funny drama about four young witches trying to make their way in the big city. They want to live a modern life, not one based on their mothers' old-fashioned rituals. But modern life presents serious problems, and our girls can't help casting the occasional spell to try to sort things out..."Laura Mackie, ITV Drama:
"Switch is a contemporary series about friendship with a spell-binding twist. Chloe [Moss] and Tim [Price] have created four fun-loving, free-spirited characters."What do you make of this news? ITV are probably after Secret Diary-meets-Being Human, but will they get it? Witches have had a rough time on television just lately, too: The Witches Of Eastwick television show was swiftly cancelled, the witchcraft element of True Blood's fourth season was of mixed success, and The Secret Circle hasn't been the runaway hit The CW expected it to be.
Can British TV find a way to make witches interesting and sexy, to appeal to young audiences?
Switch enters its eleven-week production in April 2012; filming in London, Cardiff and Bristol. I assume the show will broadcast on ITV2 either later this year or, perhaps more likely, early-2013.
