Inspired by the 1970s political scandal, the three-part drama explores how and why Labour MP John Stonehouse faked his death in an attempt to start a new life in Australia \u2013 only to be discovered very shortly after.<\/p>\n
Macfadyen plays the title character, while Hawes plays his wife of three decades Barbara, with whom he had three children and a seemingly perfect life to the casual observer. Of course, things weren\u2019t quite that simple.<\/p>\n
On acting opposite Hawes, the Succession<\/a> star told press: \u201cIt was really lovely. That\u2019s the boring but truthful answer\u2026 We were filming in and around Birmingham and Stratford, so we got an Airbnb, took the dog, and it was like a little working holiday.\u201d<\/p> Stonehouse marks the first time that the couple have shared the screen since Spooks<\/a> and Macfadyen admitted some initial concerns that it would give the project an unwanted \u201ccute\u201d factor, but these ultimately went unfounded.<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cIt\u2019s always slightly\u2026 you think, \u2018Is this going to be a bit naff or cute\u2019 or something. But actually, it was really lovely. And she\u2019s a brilliant actress and we\u2019re both used to being on set. So it was just great.\u201d<\/p>\n Director Jon S Baird (Stan & Ollie) interjected that the nature of their roles helped prevent the show from veering off into kitsch territory, as scenes between John and Barbara are filled with tension as opposed to sentimentality.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe if you had been playing a couple in love, it could have been very icky [but] there was conflict all the time between these two,\u201d the filmmaker told Macfadyen. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s a very brave move for them to go and do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, Baird added to RadioTimes.com<\/a>: \u201cI didn\u2019t feel as though it was a challenge at all. And I think it probably added to it because they know each other so well and they could really push the boundaries with each other during filming.\u201d<\/p>\n Stonehouse also stars screen newcomer Emer Heatley as Sheila Buckley, assistant to the disgraced MP, who soon became his lover \u2013 and eventually, his second wife.<\/p>\n Stonehouse premieres on ITV on Monday 2nd January 2023. Check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what\u2019s on.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Christmas double issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now<\/b><\/span>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/b>subscribe now<\/b><\/span><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0<\/b>Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast<\/b><\/span><\/a>.<\/b><\/span><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By David Craig Published: Wednesday, 21 December 2022 at 12:00 am Matthew Macfadyen has said that he loved working with his actual wife Keeley Hawes on ITV drama Stonehouse, where they play a decidedly less harmonious married couple. Inspired by the 1970s political scandal, the three-part drama explores how and why Labour MP John Stonehouse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":27544,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/matthew-macfadyen-loved-working-with-wife-keeley-hawes-on-stonehouse.jpg",1280,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/matthew-macfadyen-loved-working-with-wife-keeley-hawes-on-stonehouse-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/matthew-macfadyen-loved-working-with-wife-keeley-hawes-on-stonehouse-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/matthew-macfadyen-loved-working-with-wife-keeley-hawes-on-stonehouse-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/matthew-macfadyen-loved-working-with-wife-keeley-hawes-on-stonehouse-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/matthew-macfadyen-loved-working-with-wife-keeley-hawes-on-stonehouse.jpg",1280,853,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/matthew-macfadyen-loved-working-with-wife-keeley-hawes-on-stonehouse.jpg",1280,853,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By David Craig Published: Wednesday, 21 December 2022 at 12:00 am Matthew Macfadyen has said that he loved working with his actual wife Keeley Hawes on ITV drama Stonehouse, where they play a decidedly less harmonious married couple. Inspired by the 1970s political scandal, the three-part drama explores how and why Labour MP John Stonehouse…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/27543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/12\/stonehouse-cast-90cb6ca.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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