RACHEL BRINGS POTTERY INDUSTRY TO LIFE IN NEW DRAMA
Oscar winner takes us back to 1970s
ACTRESS Rachel Shenton is set to star in a new six-part series that she’s written herself.
The Oscar-winner, from Caverswall, usually portrays Helen Herriot in the hit Channel 5 series All Creatures Great and Small.
But the 36-year-old star has a new role in Gladstone Girls – an upcoming scripted podcast series.
The show, which Rachel describes as a ‘comedy drama’, tells the story of a group of female workers in the Potteries.
The women fight to keep their factory traditions alive when a new boss attempts to change things. Rachel’s new project is set in a Gladstone pottery factory in 1972, and stars the likes of Adrian Rollins, Anna Madeley, Leah Hackett and Dorothy Atkinson.
The actress describes Gladstone Girls as a ‘celebration of pottery’. She took inspiration from her own family, as she comes from ‘three generations of pottery women’.
Rachel said: “It is just a celebration of the potteries industry, really, of an industry that I don’t think many people know much about; this entire industry that came from this tiny little place in the middle of England. We interviewed over a hundred pottery women, so it’s based on true stories and real life. It’s a skill that people don’t know much about.”
The series tells the story of the women, who spend every Friday night getting ready for their big night out. The factory would be transformed into a salon as they got glammed up, but their new floor manager, portrayed by Adrian, wants to bring the Friday tradition to a stop, prompting protests from the women.
Rachel revealed she chose Anna to portray the lead character as she’s ‘fabulous’, along with her All Creatures Great and Small co-star Dorothy Atkinson.
“The women were so tough, so strong, and so funny. There was a real sense of togetherness, camaraderie, community,” said Rachel. “So it’s good fun, and it’s about curlers, but actually it’s about sticking together and standing up for what you believe in – and that feels relevant even now.”
She added she feels protective of this story because she wants the women depicted in the show to be shown in the ‘right way’. The actress said she is ‘very proud’ of Gladstone Girls, which is yet to be given an official release date.