Victoria Wood brings stage play to BBC Two

BBC Two has commissioned a new 90-minute musical drama ‘Tubby and Enid’ by BAFTA-winning writer Victoria Wood, based on her stage play, That Day We Sang.

The adaptation produced by BBC Two and Endor Productions, stars Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake, Another Year) and Olivier Award winner Michael Ball (Hairspray, Sweeney Todd).

Tubby And Enid has at its core the iconic recording of Nymphs and Shepherds sung by the Manchester Children’s Choir in 1929. As we begin the story of one of those children, Jimmy, as he prepares for the great day, we jump ahead 40 years to a reunion of that same choir being filmed for a documentary.

One of the ex-choir children is Tubby, a middle-aged insurance salesman, living alone after the death of his mother. Hearing the record for the first time in 40 years he gets a glimpse of the boy he was, and the man he could be, if he has the courage to change. At the same reunion is Enid, living in a safe narrow world of her own construction.

The music stirs powerful memories in both and seems to offer a new direction, a last grab for love. We interweave their faltering romance with Jimmy’s story, living with his adored but embittered mother in a tiny back-to-back in Depression-hit Manchester.

Writer and Director, Victoria Wood says: “Tubby And Enid brings together everything I love – singing, dancing, comedy, love and chips. A musical set in ’29 and ’69 complete with tap dancing children, singing coal men and possibly a tram, was always going to be a big undertaking, and I’m very appreciative of the way everyone at the BBC has been so encouraging and supportive.

“Imelda and Michael are my dream team, superb professionals at the top of their game. I’m hoping to deliver something that will be a real treat for the audience.”

Producer Paul Frift says: “Musicals for television are rare – to make a musical with Victoria Wood, Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball is pure heaven. Tubby And Enid is a beautiful universal love story, we will all be in floods of tears before the end.”

Hilary Bevan Jones, Executive Producer, adds: “Victoria Wood is an extraordinary talent. This script is warm, witty and fun, complete with music and lyrics that make your heart leap.”

Tubby And Enid begins principal photography on 6 January 2014.