Channel 4’s Flowers to air this spring
New comedy drama Flowers is to air this spring, Channel 4 has announced.
The programme will follow the eccentric and dysfunctional lives of the Flowers family across six 30 minute episodes.
Flowers stars Peep Show’s Olivia Coleman and Julian Barratt of The Mighty Boosh, and is written and directed by BAFTA-nominated Will Sharpe.
Maurice (Barratt), the author of illustrated children’s books The Grubbs, and music teacher wife Deborah (Colman) are barely together, but yet to divorce. As Maurice fights inner demons and dark secrets, Deborah tries to keep the family together at all costs and becomes increasingly suspicious that Maurice is in a secret homosexual relationship with his Japanese illustrator Shun (Sharpe).
The Flowers family live in a creaky, messy, crumbling old house with Maurice’s ailing mother Hattie (Leila Hoffman) and their maladjusted 25-year-old twins Amy (Sophia Di Martino) and Donald (Daniel Rigby). Both are competing for the affection of neighbour Abigail (Georgina Campbell) as they struggle to burst through the confines of their arrested development. Anna Chancellor plays Aunty Viv, Deborah’s vivacious sister.
Swinging from the profane to the profound, the Flowers family and their often self-inflicted crises, are surrounded by odd neighbours who become the agents of further heartache and misfortune. Despite living on top of each other the family will do anything to not communicate, pushing them and their struggles with love and life to extreme and ridiculous places.
Sharpe said: “I feel very lucky to be making Flowers with Kudos, Channel 4 and Seeso. They’ve been really supportive and pushed me to make bold decisions on a show that aims both to celebrate and challenge the traditional family sitcom format. The characters in this show are all trying to break free in some way. In part, it’s a comedy about the different ways of feeling trapped or alone and how difficult it can be to admit that’s how you’re feeling.”
Channel 4’s Deputy Head of Comedy, Nerys Evans said: “Flowers is the kind of deliciously dark world we love at Channel 4. The word ‘dysfunctional’ doesn’t come close to describing quite how brilliantly peculiar the Flowers family are. Will Sharpe’s wonderful writing and direction coupled with an amazing cast has led us to an unbelievably original piece and we are delighted to have it on the channel.”
Naomi de Pear, who developed and produced the series for Kudos said: “Flowers is perhaps the saddest comedy I’ve come across but it’s also very silly. Working with the very talented Will, Channel 4, Seeso and the extraordinary cast to bring to life this emotional and unique vision about the awful and funny pain of being in a family has been brilliant fun. Flowers has an other-worldly quality to it, even though it’s about real characters and real emotions.”
