BBC Show Starts Production Without Actors Coming Into Contact With Each Other

Despite the widespread disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the BBC has just announced the production of a new television series set to debut soon. Talking Heads--a partial remake of a set of televised monologues originally aired in 1988 and 1998--will get around the challenges posed by quarantines and social distancing by allowing its actors to film without ever needing to share the same space.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new version of Talking Heads will air in 12 parts and features an impressive ensemble cast that includes actors like Killing Eve's Jodie Comer The Hobbit's Martin Freeman, Episodes' Tamsin Greig, The English Patient's Kristen Scott Thomas, and many more. As in the original '80s and '90s series, the 2020 edition of Talking Heads will consist of dramatic monologues, each delivered by a single actor.

Alan Bennett, the writer and actor behind Talking Heads' first two runs, has returned to the series, working with director and producer Nicholas Hytner's London Theatre Company to remake 10 episodes and create two entirely new entries. Hytner calls the production, which has had to find novel ways to work while observing public health guidelines, a "challenge" that has required the cast and crew to "[rethink] ways of filmmaking that until a few weeks ago seemed routine."

"The shoot will never bring any of us within touching distance of each other," Hytner adds. "But I hope that in every other way it will reach out and touch millions of viewers."

Talking Heads, according to the THR's story, is set to "air in the coming months on BBC One."

For more on how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the TV and film industries, check out our list of Marvel's delayed movies, releases and events canceled or postponed due to COVID, and how skipping the theaters for on-demand releases has actually benefited movies like Trolls: World Tour.

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