Two Weeks in August made its debut tonight with a star-studded cast
The Two Weeks in August cast have shared the significance over a hidden detail in the show’s opening scenes(Image: Various Artists Ltd/BBC/Robert Viglasky)
The Two Weeks in August cast have shared the significance over a hidden detail in the show’s opening scenes.
Written and created by Sally4Ever’s Catherine Shepherd, the new ‘witty and painfully relatable’ series follows a group of friends reuniting for a summer holiday. However, the idyllic getaway is soon thrown into chaos thanks to an illicit kiss.
In episode one, viewers are introduced to each of the friends with married couple Zoe and Dan, played by Jessica Raine and Damien Molony, clearly struggling as they attempt to put past events behind them.
The family of four, who have brought their children on the trip, are also struggling with money as is highlighted when Jess, played by Antonia Thomas, suggests they all put €200 each in the kitty.
Things go from bad to worse when Zoe and Dan are tasked with preparing food that evening with their lavish friends wanting seafood, which provides another tense expense for the struggling couple as they opt for store bought fish as opposed to fresh market produce.
Talking about the scenes with the Mirror, Jessica Raine and Damien Molony, who play Zoe and Dan, pointed out a significant hidden detail in the opening moments of the show.
Damien, 42, said: “We had a great opportunity to rehearse before we went out with Tom George, our director. We talked a lot about their past and about their relationship and the fact that, you know, they probably hadn’t had sex in about a year.
“That was a really kind of good starting point to go: ‘Oh, something’s really not right here.’ We would do some improvisations about the journey to the airport in England and what that must have been like.
“Jess had this incredible line in the improv about having to pack pasta in our luggage because we knew we wouldn’t be able to afford food on the island. So much so that they actually put it in the scene.
“So when Jessica opens her suitcase in that first scene on packing, there is pasta in the bag” to which Jessica, 44, added: “Three bags!”
Damien continued: “It was kind of those little details that started to kind of… because in TV, you don’t get that opportunity to rehearse or to really explore the world around the scenes.
“So that was really, really thrilling, and it really informed the rest of the kind of scenes that we shared together because this couple goes on a huge journey.”
Meanwhile, Jess said: “The journey of the fish is really good and I think that’s also a really good point to make about our show is the financial differences in the couples. I don’t think we see that very much.
“We often see a lot of very rich people going on holiday, but I love the reality. I mean, a lot of people are in that position where you’re like, I can’t afford €200 for the kitty and the look that we give each other, we’re just like: ‘Holy moly, this is, we’re way out of our depth’ and they don’t feel able to say.”
The drama is only going to get more intense for the couple and their friends as a synopsis teases: “Set in Greece, Two Weeks in August tells the story of a woman who goes on holiday with her family and friends to rediscover joy in her life. But, here in paradise, what starts with an illicit kiss quickly turns the dream vacation into a nightmare.
“Zoe begins to act on her deepest desires and the holiday she hoped for becomes a reckoning for a group of adults who refuse to grow up. When they discover they are trapped on the island, and become faced with real life-or-death situations, the group soon turn on each other to find out who is to blame.
“Is Zoe responsible for the drama and destruction around her or, as heaven turns to hell, are bigger forces at play? We are in Greece after all, the land of the ancient Gods…”
Two Weeks In August airs Saturday nights on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.