Page 10 - Fujifilm Exposure_25 Jean Francois Robin_ok

MURDER
MOST FLORAL
On location as
T he forecast on the call sheet could not be more
amiss. Instead of a “largely cloudy day with some patchy light rain”, it’s actu- ally blazing hot and the
skies are gloriously cloudless. It’s a day for light clothing, caps and, in the case of some male members of the crew, even a chance to go topless.
Mind you, it’s still only early April and this midsummer-style weather is confusing everyone, none more so than cinematographer Paul Englefield, who after working mostly on shorts, documentaries and the occasional arty drama, is lighting his first-ever piece of mainstream episodic television.
It’s a 12-week shoot – that’s six hour- long ‘stand alone’ episodes – and as he lunches picnic-style on the grass in the spacious grounds of a posh girl’s board- ing school on the Berkshire/Hampshire
Photos main: Rosemary & Thyme stars Pam Ferris and Felicity Kendal; right l-r: Director Brian Farnham and Felicity Kendal; Camera Operator Jamie Harcourt; Brian Farnham behind the camera
border, Englefield happily enthuses, “I’m doing the whole lot.”
“The whole lot” is, in this case, a new primetime TV series from producer Brian Eastman’s prolific Carnival Films, previously responsible for top-rated shows such as Poirot, Jeeves & Wooster, Traffik, The Tenth Kingdom and Channel Four’s current youth hit, As If as well as occasional award-winning films like Shadowlands and Firelight.
Played by Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris, Rosemary & Thyme are, in fact, Rosemary Boxer – a plant biology lec- turer whose career is on the line – and Laura Thyme, a former policewoman whose husband has abandoned her for a younger woman.
Both keen gardeners, they soon discover that sudden death keeps get- ting in the way of their joint love of horticulture. A sort of Ground Force meets Midsomer Murders.
‘The idea started with us at Carnival,” says Eastman. “We then developed it with writer Clive Exton. ITV thought it was a terrific idea and we then talked about trying to get Felicity and Pam involved. They were keen to do it, and it just went on from there. We had been trying to think of a show that blended the traditional mystery ele- ments with something very English, something that would give an audience the opportunity to enjoy the show on two levels rather than just one.
“Here are two friends who go about their business as gardeners and uncover strange goings-on. Because they’re working in the garden they are trusted and unobtrusive, so get to see things that the police miss.
“Our main characters are both women in their fifties who are forced to re-assess their lives when their per- sonal circumstance suddenly change.
Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris turn sleuths in Rosemary & Thyme, a new prime-time series for ITV
8 • Exposure • Fuji Motion Picture And Professional Video