Director Richard Eyre came to Deadline’s TIFF Studio with fond memories of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who made him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992. Accompanied by actor Bally Gill, Eyre discussed his latest project,, which had its World Premiere in Toronto and casts an eye on Britain’s healthcare crisis.
“It’s the story of a hospital which is threatened with closure,” he explained, “and there are two figures in the hospital. One of them, played by Bally Gill, is a young doctor, and the other is a nursing sister, played by Jennifer Saunders. They represent the two poles of healthcare: the doctor is a utopian who believes in the best of all possible worlds in healthcare, and the other is a thorough pragmatist.
The film began life as a stage play, first performed in London in the fall of 2018. “The play was written by Alan Bennett,” Eyre said. “Alan Bennett needs no introduction from me — he is really the foremost British writer of plays and screenplays — but it was adapted for the screen by a television writer called Heidi Thomas, who has a wonderful series called.
“The big things, of course, are health and old age,” laughed the director, now 79. “I have a vested interest in healthcare and the way we look after our old people.” Even for Gill, a seasoned stage actor, the casting was impressive. “I auditioned like most people do for a film,” he recalled, “but I had lack of information in terms of what it was I was actually auditioning for. I knew the title, I knew about Alan Bennett and I knew it was a play. So, I sent the self-tapes, auditioned, and then Richard called me and said he wanted to have me on the project. Then he said, ‘Do you know who else is in this film?’ I said, ‘I haven’t got a clue, I really don’t.