Entertainment
Holding director Kathy Burke took the project after listening to Graham Norton’s audiobook when her ‘hands were busy making spliffs’
Kathy Burke is directing the TV adaption of Graham Norton’s acclaimed novel Holding (Picture: BBC/REX/Getty)
Comedian, actor, director and all-round legend Kathy Burke almost turned down her newest project, except that a few things fell into place at the right time.
The former Kevin and Perry star, 57, is the director of new ITV black comedy-drama Holding, based off the popular 2016 novel by Graham Norton.
A dark, comedic, quirky whodunnit, Holding is set in the fictional West Cork town of Duneen, with larger-than-life characters and a hugely compelling storyline.
Holding boasts a stellar cast, both before-and-behind the scenes, with Graham so confident his book was in safe hands he only appeared on the set for one day (the day they were, coincidentally, handing out ice cream).
But, as Kathy Burke explained to Metro.co.uk and other press during a Q&A ahead of the release of the show in March, she initially turned it down.
‘Usually, I say no to telly directing,’ the comedian said.
‘I’m normally a theatre director, that’s what I love and what I’ve been doing mostly for 20 years. I’ve always said no to any TV projects coming in.’
‘But,’ she revealed, ‘I had listened to Graham read Holding during lockdown. Because I was busy with the hands – making spliffs!’
The director and comedian was a fan of the audiobook as it left her hands free for other stuff (Picture: WireImage)
Kathy listened to Graham’s audiobook narration all the way through, while also, of course, keeping the hands busy, and by the end was a true fan.
That said, a year later Kathy was approached about directing a TV programme, and at first ‘said no immediately’.
But when she realised what the project was, she thought, in her words: ‘That’s a bit of a coinkydink.’
It was when she began asking about the characters and realised she could still remember their names a year later that she became curious enough about the project that she agreed to sign on as a director, joking ‘it was curiosity that killed the cat’.
Conleth Hill stars as the anxiety-ridden small-town garda PJ Collins (Picture: ITV)
Speaking about Holding, Kathy said: ‘There’s a sneakiness and a darkness and all the rest of it, but there’s great warmth and great humour and great love.
‘I read episodes one and two, and I thought the writing was so terrific – the way they’d adapted it, the way these characters just jumped off the page.’
Author Graham was adamant he did not want to adapt the book into a series himself, telling Metro.co.uk and other press that it was a skill and a job ‘that other people are able to do’.
Siobhán McSweeney steps away from her comedy roots in Derry Girls for the compelling drama (Picture: ITV)
‘I felt like I’d had my time with these characters, I’d done my work with them, I’d enjoyed them and it was time to hand them over,’ he said.
‘So I’ve loved this experience because I’ve had nothing to do, and I’ve just been able to watch what’s happened.’
More: TV
The series is written by Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Karen Cogan, and features a hugely impressive cast, with Game of Thrones star Conleth Hill and Derry Girls icon Siobhán McSweeney leading the cast.
Oscar winner Brenda Fricker, Father Ted’s Pauline McLynn, Peaky Blinders star Charlene McKenna and This Is England ’90’s Helen Behan are just some of the more recognisable names in the series.
Holding begins on March 14 at 9pm on ITV.
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