Charlotte Riley has revealed that several storylines had to be cut from newspaper drama ‘Press’ because they happened in real life.
The new series – which has been written by ‘Doctor Foster’ creator Mike Bartlett – follows two fictional newspapers in competition with each other and a number of fake newsworthy events in the plot had to be dropped because they were too similar to things actually occurring in British society, such as a bomb attack on the London Underground.
Charlotte – who plays the Deputy News Editor of fictional broadsheet The Herald – told the Daily Star newspaper: "There were one or two storylines that we filmed that then actually happened in real life, so they didn’t make the cut. We couldn’t then use them because they were too close to reality. One of them was a bomb on the District line of the Tube at Parsons Green. We ended up cutting that out because it had literally just happened. There were others too."
The BBC One drama will explore the "fast-paced and challenging environment of the British newspaper industry" in a time of "turmoil" and follows reporters at the two rival publications.
Press also stars ‘Apple Tree Yard’ actor, Ben Chaplin, 49, and ‘Poirot’ legend David Suchet, 72, among a stellar cast and Charlotte, 36, admits she and her co-stars were spooked by Mike’s seemingly precognitive scripts and left her wondering if he was a "witch" with the power to see into the future.
Charlotte added: "When things from the script kept happening in real life I thought, ‘What is going on here?’ That was quite fascinating. But it made me think the writer was a witch of some kind."
‘Press’ begins on BBC One at 9pm on Thursday (06.09.18).
Charlotte Riley spills on storyline cuts on Press
