Interview with Iain Weatherby – Writer, Co-Creator and Executive producer

14 December 2023

What inspired you to write the show and create these five individuals?

When you're writing characters, it's always an amalgam of people you've known. Charlie and I did that process, we told each other stories about our parents and our grandparents, and we borrowed facets and aspects of them to create these characters. Casting was also very important because we were able to see who they were going to be and then borrow elements from them and actually be guided by Lindsay or Clarke in the creation of those characters - making sure that they speak in a way that feels right and natural to them. We also used their astonishing life experience to help ground the characters and build them.

In what way is this show different to what we see on television?

It's a completely original idea of mine and Charlie's. There's no source material or a book that you're adapting to lean on. That's exciting but also a little bit daunting. But the world we built is a real world and it should look like familiar. It's not crazily heightened. You just try to find the real experience of the characters each time. Does this sound like them? Is this what they really do? Do you buy it, do you believe it? I think people want to spend time with great characters, and the more you lean into who your characters are and get that right, the better off you're going to be.

How have you tackled balancing the difficult themes in the show with the lighter bits?

I can't love anything that isn't funny. I think that's how people cope with things. It's a mingled tone between the very dark stuff and the funny moments. Those two things collide in life all the time. We've tried to tell the story as lightly as we can, even though we know we're going into some pretty dark territory. Death shines a light on your life because it forces us to consider what are we doing with our time. When you're older, you have less of that left. It's a more real experience for you to consider. What are you going to do with the time you've got left? And that's what our two characters have to do, and they have to make big moral choices. But it's also a love story that, we hope, is very touching and beautiful as well as dramatic.

Tell us a little bit about the cast.

Casting is everything and I think we have an embarrassment of riches. Lindsay is just a force, and she is astonishingly skilful and brilliant. She’s done amazing projects in the past and is one of our absolute great actors. We are unbelievably thrilled to have her and to watch her shape Phil for us. With Clarke, I'm a big The Wire guy, I think it’s one of the greatest TV shows of all time. He's got such presence and he's just one of the coolest dudes you'll ever meet. So those two, I mean, what a combination! We couldn't have been more excited when we hoped that we might get them, and then we did. And then, Peter Egan, Sue Johnston, Karl Johnson, Phil Davis are just knockouts. They’re so skilled and just being privileged enough to sit behind the camera and watch them work is something else. We're very excited about that.

What do you hope audiences take away from Truelove?

I hope they are gripped by a terrific story. I don't think it's, you know, the place of drama to get didactic or send messages. I think you ask questions; you don't answer them. I think if people go away asking themselves questions, then that's great. If you can make people talk about the show and talk about the issues in the show, I think that's extremely exciting and shows you've done your job. But mainly I just want people to be gripped by a terrific story and to spend time with some characters who I hope they fall in love with.

Is there anything you learned from this experience?

I hope you learn something every time you put pen to paper. I think watching great actors and brilliant directors work is a phenomenal learning experience because it teaches you to write better, to write shorter, go easy on the speeches and the business. Watching some of these actors make your lines work and seeing how little they need in order to connect and land an emotional moment is a terrific learning experience.