The drama is currently being filmed across the city
A scene being filmed on St Paul’s Square(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
A new BBC drama is currently being filmed in Liverpool. Camera crews descended on St Paul’s Square in the city centre where upcoming BBC drama Waiting for the Out is being filmed.
The drama was announced in May, with an impressive cast featuring Josh Finnan, Gerard Kearns, Samantha Spiro and Stephen Wright, and filming will continue to take place across Liverpool, the BBC said. The plot revolves around Dan, played by Josh Finan, a philosopher who begins teaching a class of men in a prison.
A BBC spokesperson said: “Each week, Dan leads discussions about dominance, freedom, luck and other topics that have troubled philosophers for thousands of years – topics that gain a new meaning when seen through the prisoners’ eyes – both igniting passions and creating tension.
“Through his work, Dan begins to dig deeper into his own past – growing up with a violent father (Kearns) who ended up in prison, as did his brother Lee (Stephen Wight) and uncle Frank (Daniels).
“Dan took a different path, but his time working in a prison begins to make him worry, obsessively, that he belongs behind bars just like his father. As Dan’s personal crisis deepens, his actions begin to threaten both his own future, and his family’s.”
It is based on Andy West’s acclaimed memoir The Life Inside. The series is being produced by SISTER, also behind Black Doves and Chernobyl, with filming to take place across Liverpool.
Josh Finan (L) and Stephen Wight (R)(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Dennis Kelly, writer and executive producer, said: “It’s not at all unusual for the men in Andy West’s family to end up in prison – but Andy is the only one that chose to be there.
“His book is funny, insightful, beautiful, genuinely heartbreaking and nothing like what you’d expect it to be – we’ve tried to take that into the series. God alone knows if we’ve succeeded, but we’ve tried…”
Andy West, executive producer and author of The Life Inside, said: “I’m so thankful to the writers, directors, producers and everyone involved in adapting The Life Inside.
“They have brought extraordinary creative and moral imagination to the stories in the book. We all hope to make a series that goes beyond the clichés about prisons and the families inside them and that touches people either side of the wall.”
Josh Finan said: “Having the chance to work with writing of this quality, inspired by such a rich real-life story, alongside such talented creatives is a genuine gift. A real pinch me moment.
Filming on St Paul’s Square(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
“Every stage of the process so far has been both a joy and a welcome creative challenge. I’m itching to get filming and can’t wait for people to get the chance to watch this hugely sensitive, empathic, hilarious and at times deeply emotional story.”
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