Dawn French is to star in The Tail of the Curious Mouse, a Christmas film for Sky One inspired by the true story of when a young Roald Dahl met his hero, Beatrix Potter. With Beatrix (Dawn French) coming to the end of her career and Roald aged only six and having recently lost his father and sister, this meeting of two literary legends was to have an enormous impact on the lives of both writers.
The Tail of the Curious Mouse was commissioned by Jon Mountague, Sky Studios’ Director of Comedy and Zai Bennett, Sky’s Managing Director of Content and will be produced by Hartswood Films. Written by Abi Wilson, the show is executive produced by Elaine Cameron for Hartswood Films.
The cast discuss their roles below
Dawn French – Beatrix Potter
I remember having Beatrix Potter books in my bedroom as a child and loving the pictures. The more I found out about her as a woman, the more I liked her. Apart from the wonderful script, another thing about this job was the chance to work with people that I really admire. To be sharing the same kind of ‘showbiz air’ with them was really good.
Rob Brydon - William Heelis, Beatrix's husband
The thought of working with Dawn, before I’d even read the script, attracted me. Then when we did the read-through over Zoom, I was very moved by it. Jessica Hynes, who plays Sofie Dahl, Roald’s mum, has a very emotional story and Jessica plays it beautifully. The whole cast is absolutely wonderful, lots of very talented people and so it’s been a real pleasure to be part of it.
Alison Steadman – Dora
Dora is a cafe owner and she meets Roald’s mother who comes in for tea when Roald is at Beatrix’s house. Sofie wanders into the village while she waits. Sofie is having a terrible time of it, and Dora can see that. She also reads her tea leaves. They have a lovely chat and the relationship between the two of them gives Sofie courage to move forward, in a strange way.
Jessica Hynes – Sofie Dahl
When I found out I had the role I read Roald’s autobiography and there’s a part that I kept in mind in my performance. Sofie was a widow with five children, and every summer she’d take everyone to this remote island in Norway by boat. Roald describes these tiny boats and his mum looking happy as the waves got rougher. She was so strong. It’s a story about resilience at all times.
Harry Tayler – Roald Dahl
Jess was so nice and lovely, I really liked working with her. We talked about all kinds of stuff. Dawn was really funny. She’d make me laugh a lot. One time she jumped out at me and scared me! She’s not scary in real life, though. Bill was really funny as well. He dropped some nuts and said it was a ‘nuts-ami’ like a tsunami and that made me laugh.
Bill Bailey – the Bona Fide Gent (pictured)
I play a rather eccentric and colourful, slightly shabby-looking character, who encounters Roald when he is attempting to run away from home. I just want you to know these are not my real ears, by the way. Before you think, ‘Wow, Bill’s got an amazing skill to grow his own ears for a role’, no, they’re prosthetic. I can hear a vole’s heartbeat from a mile away, though.
Nina Sosanya – Anne Landy
Anne works for Beatrix’s publishers. She’s relatively new so she doesn’t know what Beatrix is like. She goes to Hill Top Cottage and tries to get Beatrix to change certain parts of her book, about cutting mice’s tails off. She’s very much a city girl just trying to do her job, and she encounters the force of nature that is Beatrix. They clash and eventually one of them wins.
Nick Mohammed – Mr Entwistle
I play Beatrix’s optometrist. My scenes are about Beatrix not accepting the age she is and struggling to accept her ‘old lady eyes’. The scene is comical and silly but she can’t argue with the science of it. Mr Entwistle ends up saying he’s a huge fan of her books and he’d like a signature for his wall and that undermines the whole thing because he’s a bit of a creep.
The Tail of the Curious Mouse starring Dawn French, Christmas Eve, 8.15pm, Sky One
Picture: Sky
