ITV2 ready to cast a spell on you with new drama ‘Switch’

Last month here at Inside Media Track we attended the press launch of ITV2’s new drama Switch; as well as watching the first episode we got a chance to put some questions to the cast, which included Lacey Turner, Hannah Tointon, Nina Toussaint-White and Phoebe Fox. 

Read below what we thought of the show and what the young cast had to say…

Let’s get the obvious comparison out of the way: Switch is a show about four young women living together who just happen to be witches. The long running US show Charmed was a show about young women living together who just happened to be witches. And yes, the chances are that if you liked Charmed then you’ll enjoy watching Switch as well, but there the similarities end, for Switch has a distinctly British sense of humour running through it which makes it a lot more fun to watch than its American cousin.

The show stars Lacey Turner, Nina Toussaint-White and Hannah Tointon who are perhaps best known for their stints on soap operas (Eastenders and Hollyoaks before you ask) and they’re joined by experienced stage actress Phoebe Fox, to make up the coven of witches who live and work in Camden. Switch follows their lives as they struggle to balance careers and relationships with their unique powers.

But they’re not traditional witches, for as co-star Phoebe Fox explained “We don’t have supernatural powers. We rely upon the coming together of the four elements and the energy and power that provokes. But also, within that, the use of herbs and plants or if we are going to cast a spell on a person we need something belonging to them. It’s quite traditional in the sense that we have a cauldron and we all hold hands in a circle to chant spells…we don’t do any dark magic because we are white witches.”

Stella, played by Lacey Turner, is the career girl. Always immaculately dressed she struggles to balance the demands of a rotten boss with her friends. Stella is the ‘earth’ element of the coven, “She is the mother hen of the group” is how the actress describes her character and indeed it is her problems that bring the friends together in the first episode.

Phoebe Fox plays Grace, the youngest of the four witches. Grace’s element is water, as Fox describes her character, “Water people can be quite emotional, which Grace definitely is…Someone who is water can help to stop things getting too passionate and heated”. In the first episode we meet Phoebe’s mother Gloria, played by Caroline Quentin. “Caroline is incredibly funny, welcoming and really great to work with” said Fox. “Grace’s mother is a very big presence in her life, sometimes too much I think. Grace almost lives in the shadow of her mother’s huge personality and struggles to gain her own independence”.

Jude, played by Nina Toussaint White, is the fashion victim of the bunch. Stylish, sexy and clothes conscious she works in a fashion store and has an eye for the boys. “She’s fiery, like her element” the actress describes her character. “Jude starts off as a party animal, and is a bit of a sex maniac. But when she sees one of her friends happy in a relationship she begins to change. In every episode you see many layers of Jude. You see her vulnerable side, you see her caring side, you see her strong side and you see her funny side.”

Hannah Tointon plays Hannah, the ‘air’ element of the coven. “She is always passing by without much thought to what she is doing . She never plans anything; she just goes where the wind takes her.  She is very easy going, doesn’t expect too much and will make every situation fun. Hannah and Grace are best friends…they met the other two at Solstice Camp and their different personalities meant they worked well together as a coven,” the actress explains.

Switch doesn’t take its fantastical elements too seriously and manages to weave them into the day to day realities of their characters lives without dominating the show like some previous genre efforts have done. Combined with a healthy dose of escapism—using the magic to resolve life’s little day to day problems – the first episode moves along at rapid pace, with plenty of laughs and plenty of action.

And the introduction of the Camden coven’s arch-nemeses, the Witches of Kensington, promises an interesting and amusing further five episodes.

Switch starts Monday 15^th October at 10pm on ITV 2. Go on…watch it!