{"id":49174,"date":"2024-04-08T22:00:22","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T20:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2021286"},"modified":"2024-04-08T22:36:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T20:36:58","slug":"is-the-cuckoo-based-on-a-true-story-inspiration-behind-channel-5-drama","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/is-the-cuckoo-based-on-a-true-story-inspiration-behind-channel-5-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Is The Cuckoo based on a true story? Inspiration behind Channel 5 drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new Channel 5 drama is certainly eerie, but is it based on reality? <\/p>

By Morgan Cormack\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 08 April 2024 at 20:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Channel 5 is back with another gripping limited series, which will undoubtedly have viewers guessing as to what will come next.<\/p>\n

The Cuckoo<\/a> stars Jill Halfpenny and Lee Ingleby<\/a> and follows Halfpenny\u2019s Sian, an enigmatic lodger who moves in with a family \u2013 but is hiding secrets of her own.<\/p>\n

Taken in by Nick (Ingleby) and Jessica (Claire Goose) as a means to helping with their dwindling financial situation, Sian immediately starts to bring tension to the household.<\/p>\n

As per the synopsis, Sian \u201cacts too familiar with Nick, borrows Jessica\u2019s clothes and builds an increasingly inappropriate rapport with Alice\u201d.<\/p>\n

But is the new four-part series based on a true story? Read on to find out more about the inspirations behind the new Channel 5 drama.<\/p>\n

Is The Cuckoo based on a true story?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Lee\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Lee Ingleby as Nick and Claire Goose as Jessica in The Cuckoo.<\/span><\/figcaption> Channel 5<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

The Cuckoo isn\u2019t based on a true story<\/strong> but is inspired by older thrillers with a similar theme and format.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the new series, Halfpenny spoke about what made her want to join the cast as Sian, and said: \u201cInitially, the series was just an idea that was floating around, and I talked to Mike Benson at Clapperboard about it, along with the creator, Barunka O\u2019Shaughnessy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said they wanted to make something with a bit of a nod to those old 1990s movies like Single White Female, which I thought was cool, and then we had this idea of a story about a woman who infiltrates a family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was funny because in the initial chats, they were thinking that I would be playing Jessica, the person on the receiving end of this drama, but it was me who said, \u2018Actually, can I play Sian? Can I be the person doing all this stuff, because that seems like more fun!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI was attracted to playing somebody who was doing these things, rather than having them happening to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really interesting being involved in conversations so early on in the project. The hard work was being done by other people, but it was great to knock around ideas and think about how the story would play out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very flattered that the production company wanted me to be involved in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jill\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Jill Halfpenny as Sian in The Cuckoo.<\/span><\/figcaption> Channel 5<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Anyone who\u2019s watched Single White Female and then The Cuckoo will be able to draw some thematic similarities between the two, especially the downright eerie feel of both that keeps you watching.<\/p>\n

The 1992 film was based on\u00a0John Lutz\u2019s 1990 novel SWF Seeks Same<\/a> and starred Bridget Fonda\u00a0and\u00a0Jennifer Jason Leigh.<\/p>\n

Speaking about those influences, David Turpin (who served as a writer for episode 1 of The Cuckoo) said: \u201cI was interested in taking more obvious influences like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle or Single White Female, and infusing them with a slightly more European flavour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe French filmmaker Claude Chabrol is an influence, for the way he can turn a comfortable domestic setting into something unsettling. I think some of those European influences give The Cuckoo a flavour we haven\u2019t seen in this kind of show before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lee\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Lee Ingleby as Nick and Claire Goose as Jessica in The Cuckoo.<\/span><\/figcaption> Channel 5 <\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Rebecca Wojciechowski, who was the writer on episodes 2 to 4, also said: \u201cYes, Single White Female was an influence \u2013 the way in which a stranger can appear in someone\u2019s life as a friend and very slowly an ulterior motive is unveiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cFatal Attraction was also an influence, in terms of how obsession can ratchet up to increasingly dangerous levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cuckoo director Brian O\u2019Malley admits that he initially thought the premise of the show was \u201cvery interesting\u201d, saying: \u201cThere are a lot of dramas being made right now that are inspired by those 1990s thrillers with bunny boiler villains, and I always struggled with that concept, because I felt like we were turning these women into monsters.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut with The Cuckoo I really liked the idea that you could take one of those concepts but understand the woman in question so much more, humanising her to the point where you can feel some sympathy, even though she\u2019s the villain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I really wanted to do with this show \u2013 I knew that whatever else happened, by the end of this series I wanted the audience to feel real sympathy for Sian and to understand that while what she did was wrong, she was really suffering as a human being. I didn\u2019t want her to just be the crazy woman in this story, and I think we did achieve that.\u201d<\/p>

Obviously, as time goes on in the drama, we soon see how Sian\u2019s arrival prompts some tension and problems within this small family, who are also dealing with their own issues aside from having a new lodger.<\/p>\n

Claire Goose stars as Jessica in The Cuckoo, and speaking about creating an atmosphere similar to Single White Female in the series, she admitted that she \u201cloved it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first spoke to our director, Brian O\u2019 Malley, he was saying he wanted to create that feeling of uneasiness, which I thought would be great,\u201d she went on.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I grew up with these kinds of films, like Sleeping with the Enemy, and it made me want to go back and watch them all.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when I was in Ireland for the shoot, I started watching things like Shattered, and you remember these were actually very simple stories, but they\u2019re just weaved so well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think there\u2019s something to be said for that \u2013 sometimes when my husband and I watch dramas, they will be so complex that we just end up being really confused!\u201d<\/p>\n