It felt like the stories in the first series were big but it was also a local story
AS ACCLAIMED DRAMA SHERWOOD RETURNS, RACHAEL DAVIS HEARS FROM ITS CAST AND CREATOR ABOUT HOW IT HOLDS ‘A MIRROR UP TO OUR SOCIETY’
WHEN series one of Sherwood came to BBC1 in 2022, it grabbed everyone’s attention.
The gripping drama, created and written by Nottinghamshire native James Graham, followed the fallout from the murder of a former union activist in a community still reeling from the effects of the 1984 miners’ strike – a story loosely based on the real murder of trade unionist Keith Frogson in 2004.
Its honest exploration of themes that remain powerful and pertinent in modern Britain made Sherwood one of the best-loved dramas of the year, and as James and his talented ensemble cast return for a second series, it’s clear there’s plenty more where that came from.
Set in the present day, series two introduces two new families that find themselves entangled with the Sparrows, a local criminal family.
Meanwhile the newly appointed Sheriff of Nottingham is fighting against a proposed new coal mine that could bring much-needed jobs to the area but also drags up memories of the legacy gripping the community.
“It felt like the stories in the first series were big. It was inspired by the largest manhunt to ever take place at the time, across Sherwood Forest, with all these different police forces, but it was also quite a local story about these few people in these few streets, the streets I grew up in.
“I guess it felt natural, then, to go slightly bigger, to the city of Nottingham, and the urban area, the estates around there... a different kind of community outside of the mining villages,” says James, who also wrote the play Dear England and drama series Quiz, among other political productions for stage and screen.
Filmed in and around Nottingham, the cast includes returning stars David Morrissey, Lesley Manville and Lorraine Ashbourne, along with Monica Dolan, David Harewood, Robert Lindsay and Sharlene Whyte.
Following on from series one’s story of “the miners’ strike trauma”, James explains that series two taps into “another Nottinghamshire trauma, the days of ‘Shottingham’ and the gun violence, which felt like an epidemic at the time, and no one really knew why it was happening or where it was going to end”.
For Lorraine Ashbourne’s character Daphne, part of the infamous Sparrow family, “there’s no turning back” in series two. “(It’s) a really interesting journey for Daphne, because in the first series she was pretty low key, kept herself to herself, and was able to hide, basically.
“She’d been hiding all of her adult life, but was able to keep a lid on everything,” says the 63-year-old Bridgerton and I Hate Suzie actress.
“And series two, it’s like opening Pandora’s box. She’s on the run now, there’s no turning back. She’s up against the wall... You just can’t imagine what she goes through.”
“It’s been brilliant to play,” Lorraine adds. “And we get to do action as well! We get to play with guns. We get to do stunts! That’s been really exciting.”
Meanwhile, David Morrissey’s Ian St Clair has left the police and is working as part of the local council’s violence reduction unit.
“His job is to bring together all aspects of social care, housing, mental health, prison, and police to make sure that there’s joined-up thinking around all those practices, which is preventing crime rather than dealing with the outcomes of crime,” explains The Walking Dead star.
“So his ambition at the start of the season is that he will act as a conduit between all those social services that are out there to help people, but make sure there’s a continuity around all that care.”
This is pertinent, David, 60, adds, because “one of the issues that resonates a lot is around a breakdown of social services and the cracks that young people – particularly young men – can fall down. Particularly in regard to gang culture”.
“I think a lot of the other themes explore the dissociation between talk and action for the rejuvenation and investment into local communities,” he adds. “Broken promises and superficial political rhetoric which have let down people and their communities for too long.”
Among those joining Sherwood this time is Monica Dolan as Ann Branson, a woman whose family runs a drug cartel in nearby Ashfield.
Fresh off the back of starring in hugely influential ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Monica knows all too well how significant drama can be in creating conversations and expanding the public’s perception of socio-political issues. “I think one of drama’s jobs is to remind or show an audience what people’s options are and how their options are different depending on their circumstances and what they’ve been offered in life,” says Monica, 55.
“And I think what this drama does, very comprehensively, is cut right through society, so you see how people’s decisions high up impact on everyone else’s decisions.
“I suppose for me, playing Anne, one of the fun things is that she seems to be able to impact people very high up and at the bottom. That’s quite enjoyable.
“I just think drama helps us to understand ourselves.” David agrees that dramas like Sherwood offer audiences an insight into the intricacies of British society, but he adds that James’s approach to political drama is a hopeful one.
“(James Graham) presents a world that is recognisable to Britain today but presented by characters that we can get to know and have empathy for,” says David.
“We don’t particularly like all of them or what they do but he gives you the reasons around why people have turned out the way they have. So it’s very much a mirror up to our society.
“But I also feel that James is someone who has a lot of hope in him as well.
“He’s someone who presents a world in all its darkness and brokenness, but he also presents a world inside there which is solution-based, and is about love and community and caring.”
It’s like opening Pandora’s box. [Daphne’s] on the run now, there’s no turning back. She’s up against the wall... You just can’t imagine what she goes through.
Lorraine Ashbourne, right, who plays Daphne, part of the infamous Sparrow family