Channel 4 have a brand new comedy-drama on the way called Sirens. It stars Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker), Rhys Thomas (Bellamy's People) and Richard Madden (Game Of Thrones) as world-weary paramedics Rachid, Stuart and Ashley, who go about their day encountering humanity at its stupidest. Amy Beth Hayes (Misfits) co-stars as Sgt Maxine Fox.
Interestingly, Sirens was inspired by the book Blood, Sweat & Tea by real-life paramedic Tom Reynolds. This formed the basis of the idea for writers Brian Fillis (The Curse of Steptoe, An Englishman In New York) and Tony Basgallop (Being Human).
Hal Vovel, executive-producer:
"[Producer] David Aukin and I had always talked about producing a satire to do with the health service. Then I heard this acerbic, misanthropic character on the radio reading excerpts from his blog about life as an ambulance driver in London and thought it might offer a really original way in. Tom Reynolds, the author of the blog, has a very wry, irreverent tone and his anecdotes about life on the front line are the kind of material you just can't make up."A few videos can be seen below:
"We wanted to make an anti-procedural show; bold, funny, moving, insightful. Our take was to use the medical aspect as a backdrop against which to follow the lives, loves and misadventures of our three heroes as they grapple with much more serious issues—like how to get laid in the middle of the day after a tough shift, or who out of the three is actually the Alpha Male in the gang, or having an existential crisis after finding a suicide—universal themes that aren't specific to ambulance drivers but are actually finally about things that concern us all; sex, power, fear of death. The aim was to make a darkly comic show about the human condition from the point of view of three utterly original, funny, loveable paramedics—confronted with a view of humanity as seen from the gutter."
"We met the writer Brian Fillis after seeing Fear Of Fanny. Brian had spent ten years working as a school teacher so understands life in the public sector. This, coupled with his unique take on the world, gave us a sense that he might find a really original way in. We gave him the blog and he just ran with it. What was important to us was that it should be comedy coming out of real observation, real comedy and real drama undercutting each other; making it laugh out loud one minute and moving the next."
Must Be Something I Ate:
Behind the Scenes:
Sirens begins its six-part run on Channel 4/HD, Monday 27 June @10PM.
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