Julie Walters leads ‘Truelove’ romantic drama about an older couple

This isn’t a period drama, but it sounds interesting so we thought we’d share the news anyway!

Channel 4 has ordered a new TV drama featuring a core cast aged in their late 60s and 70s.

Truelove “flips ageist tropes on their head in a series which promises thrilling twists and turns, irreverent humour and passionate romance.”

We’re told it “breaks the rules for older characters on screen,” which sounds very refreshing indeed.

The six-episode series is led by the brilliant Julie Walters.

You’ll recognise the 72-year-old English actress from Indian Summers, Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia, Paddington, and Calendar Girls, to name but a few of her hits.

Walters commented: “I had basically withdrawn from acting and wasn’t sure that anything could tempt me back but then I read Truelove. I was completely bowled over by the writing – the dark humour, the love story and thriller element set against a backdrop of what happens to us all as we approach our later years.”

She added: “I adore the character of Phil – smart, funny and hard edged. How often does one have the chance at my tender age to play a leading lady in a TV drama?”

Walters will be joined by Clarke Peters (The Wire), Phil Davis (Silent Witness), Karl Johnson (Mum), Fiona Button (The Split), Kiran Sonia Sawar (Murdered by My Father), and Peter Egan (After Life).

Channel 4’s Head of Drama, Caroline Hollick said: “Truelove is a unique, poignant and darkly funny series which deals with big themes around regrets at the paths not taken, quality of life and serious illness.

“Beautifully written and with actors of the calibre of Julie Walters and Clarke Peters playing the leads, Truelove is an exciting addition to Channel 4’s upcoming portfolio of dramas. I can’t wait to see the series come to life.”

Also in the cast is The Royle Family star Sue Johnston, most recently known for her role as Miss Denker in Downton Abbey.

The official synopsis reads: “Enter our dynamic duo: Phil (Julie Walters), an ex-senior police chief enjoying a comfortable if boring retirement, and Ken (Clarke Peters), a divorcee and ex-special forces vet who feels similarly at sea.

“Phil and Ken were teenage sweethearts and despite life having moved on, they have never quite managed to forget each other.

“Cut to a friend’s funeral many years later where Phil and Ken, along with a gang of old friends, are reunited. At the wake, with nostalgia and booze flowing in equal measure, talk soon takes a meditative turn and the group discuss what an ‘ideal’ death might look like.

“Our gang make a drunken pact: rather than let each other suffer a slow and dreadful decline, they will step in and engineer a dignified death. In short, they will help each other die when the time is right. Because that, they all agree, is a sign of Truelove.

“But what starts out as a fanciful idea soon morphs into shocking reality.”

Truelove will premiere in the UK on Channel 4 later this year.

A third Paddington movie is set to begin filming soon and we’re hoping Julie Walters also finds time to return in that.

Indian Summers is available on DVD on Amazon.