A 'toxic fairy tale'
Inside ITV's new drama about the former dresser to the once Duchess of York, The Lady
ITV
- Gareth McLean
Add The Lady to your watchlist
Ad
“Andrew does not feature,” writer Debbie O’Malley says emphatically of the royal formerly known as Prince and his presence, or lack thereof, in ITV1’s four-parter The Lady. The drama tells the story of Jane Andrews (former dresser to the once Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson), who killed her partner Thomas Cressman in 2000.
O’Malley says The Lady isn’t “interested in the royal world because it’s very much about the female, domestic world of Sarah [Natalie Dormer] and Jane’s part in it. We only ever see the Sarah that Jane got to see.”
Jane Andrews with the then Duchess of York in 1994. Alpha
The Lady’s attention to Andrews’s relationship with Ferguson — “a fascinating dynamic as close as friends but with a difference in status that will never go away” — forms part of what O’Malley calls Andrews’s “toxic fairy tale”.
“You’ve got this girl who comes from ordinary beginnings and ends up mixing with the greatest in the land at Buckingham Palace — before things take a sad and upsetting turn. It’s an interesting way to explore one woman’s journey as well as British society at the time.”
Mia McKenna-Bruce portrays Jane Andrews, personal aide to Ferguson, asn ambitious but complex character. ITV
Of course, it’s not a fairy tale, though. It’s a true story, or at least based on one. “If you’re writing true crime, there are things you can never know, and we wanted to be transparent about that. So wherever possible we’ve tried to show key moments of Jane and Tommy’s relationship through the eyes of the friends that were around them. There was no way we could necessarily please everyone, but we weren’t setting out to upset anyone.”
Ad
O’Malley says she takes the “enormous” responsibility involved seriously. “When you’re trying to understand a complex protagonist, it’s easy to lose sight of the victim. And that was something that was important from the beginning — to remember that a man lost his life and his family and his friends are still grieving that loss. You just have to approach it with integrity.”
Authors
Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean has been writing about television for nearly 30 years. As a critic, he's reviewed thousands of programmes. As a feature writer, he's interviewed hundreds of people, from Liza Minnelli to Jimmy Savile. He has also written for TV.
Ad
Ad
Subscribe for £1 per week
Too much to watch this autumn? Let Radio Times magazine and app do the choosing, with expert picks across TV, streaming and film.
Ad