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The Joyous Living: Hugh Laurie in RoadkillThis week, as part of the virtual press tour for PBS Masterpiece Roadkill star Hugh Laurie and writer David Hare sat down with the press and shared about the upcoming modern fictional drama and there might have been one or two satirical moments and some great laughs such as when Hugh Laurie asked, “Is someone being murdered somewhere?” when someone forgot to mute their mic.

Who is David Hare?

Writer David Hare is an English playwright, screenwriter, and director whose credits include Denial (the 2016 movie), The Hours (the 2002 movie), The Seagull (a stage adaptation of Chekhov’s Sea-Gull in 2015), and Skylight (the 1995 stage play).

Hare has received 1 BAFTA Award and 2 Academy Award nominations for The Hours and The Reader. He has also earned 2 Olivier Awards for New Play in London as well as 3 Tony Award nominations for his work in New York.

In 2011 and 2014, Hare had PBS MASTERPIECE viewers on the edge of their seats with his Worricker Trilogy starring Bill Nighy and Felicity Jones about a spy on the run.

He was knighted in 1998.

Is ROADKILL fiction or based on true life?

David Hare insists that his new television series, starring HOUSE’s Hugh Laurie, is based entirely in the realm of fiction. In fact, he said during the interviews,

“I am fighting for the right to write fiction.”

Too often, as Hare puts it, the medium has been overridden by documentaries. In Roadkill there is no Brexit or Coronavirus. It is a world of invented characters and situations.

What Inspired ROADKILL?

For the last 40 or something years, Britain’s been ruled by the Conservative Party. Yet, Hare would argue that there has been little written about the Conservative Party in fiction. Mind you, there have been movies made about Margaret Thatcher but they were more of a character piece.

Creator David Hare was fascinated to write about Conservativism as he looks at contemporary leaders of the world such as Prime Minister Johnson and President Trump and is amazed at how “shame has disappeared from politics”.

“I am a relaxed Conservative who admires progress… Conservativism is about loving the idea of the future.”

– Peter Laurence (Hugh Laurie)

Upcoming Work for David Hare

After battling and winning against Coronavirus, David Hare has written a monologue to be produced on the stage in the near future. Keep an eye out in London for “Beat the Devil”.

About ROADKILL

Peter Laurence (Hugh Laurie) is a self-made, forceful and charismatic politician. Peter’s public and private life seems to be falling apart – or rather is being picked apart by his enemies. As the personal revelations spiral, he is shamelessly untroubled by guilt or remorse, expertly walking a high wire between glory and catastrophe as he seeks to further his own agenda whilst others plot to bring him down. However, events show just how hard it is, for both an individual and a country, to leave the past behind. With enemies so close to home, can Peter Laurence ever out-run his own secrets to win the ultimate prize?

The Hastings Connection

David Hare was born and raised in Hastings, Sussex, and Hugh Laurie’s character is a politician from Hastings.

Cast of ROADKILL

Other cast includes Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders, MotherFatherSon), Sidse Babett Knudsen (The Accident, Westworld), Saskia Reeves (Us, The Child in Time), Sarah Greene (Dublin Murders, Normal People), Patricia Hodge (A Very English Scandal, Miranda), Ophelia Lovibond (W1A, Hooten & the Lady), Iain De Caestecker (Us, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D), Katie Leung (Chimerica, Strangers), Olivia Vinall (The Woman in White, Apple Tree Yard), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Harlots, MotherFatherSon), Shalom Brune-Franklin (Our Girl, Bad Mothers), Pip Torrens (Poldark, Preacher), Millie Brady (The Last Kingdom) and Danny Ashok (Deep Water, Capital).

Tune Into ROADKILL

Roadkill premieres on PBS Masterpiece on November 1, 2020 9/8c.

November 1, 2020

November 8, 2020

November 15, 2020

November 22, 2020

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David Hare, writer of Skylight, shares about his new PBS Masterpiece drama ROADKILL. Roadkill writer David Hare shares about his new political drama starring House's Hugh Laurie. David Hare fights for the right to write fiction. #fiction #pbs #pbsmasterpiece #davidhare #hughlaurie

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