BBC One commissions Loving Miss Hatto

BBC One has revealed a brand new drama; Loving Miss Hatto starring Francesca Annis and Alfred Molina and written by Victoria Wood.

BBC One Controller Danny Cohen and Controller of Drama Ben Stephenson today announce Loving Miss Hatto, a single drama for BBC One written by Victoria Wood and starring Francesca Annis and Alfred Molina. Loving Miss Hatto charts the incredible story of pianist Joyce Hatto, her relationship with her husband and the controversial recordings that made her famous late in life.

“Loving Miss Hatto is a screenplay inspired by the true story of classical pianist Joyce Hatto and her husband Barrie. It begins with their meeting in the grey shabby London of the early Fifties and ends in the 21st century in a cul-de-sac in Royston, Hertfordshire. This is a story of two young people with high hopes who, like most of us, get bashed in the face by life. It is, above all – a love story.” – Victoria Wood

“I am thrilled to have Victoria Wood’s new film on BBC One – as ever with Victoria this is a wonderfully English story told with tenderness, humour and emotion. It’s an extraordinary love story with a difference told on a scale you could only find on the BBC.” – Ben Stephenson, BBC Controller, Drama Commissioning

“This is an extraordinary tale that caught our eye many years ago. Victoria Wood has spent three years researching this fascinating story and has produced a beautifully realised and moving script that not only brings the story to life but sheds new light on her relationship with her husband.” – Andy Harries, Executive Producer

Produced by Left Bank Pictures (Wallander, Mad Dogs, Strike Back) in association with Octagon Films (The Tudors), Loving Miss Hatto will be shot on location in Ireland, produced by Radford Neville (The Borrowers) and directed by Aisling Walsh (Wallander) with financing from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board.

Loving Miss Hatto is the third UK television projects to be confirmed for Ireland in recent months, as a result of the newly announced IFB International Production Fund and a UK trade mission organised last year by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB), for 40 UK and Irish companies which comprised of over 350 networking meetings arranged over a two day period.

“We are delighted that a company of the calibre of Left Bank Pictures who have produced, amongst many other projects, Wallander with Kenneth Branagh and The Damned United with Michael Sheen, has decided to return to Ireland after their successful experience here with Father And Son during 2009.” – James Flynn of Octagon Films