This takes situations to extremes by taking all the worst stories you might hear and combining them into one story.
How Does The Feud Take Suburban Drama To The Next Level?
It’s A Recognisable Tale Of British Suburban Life, Then?
RPJ:You know immediately something terrible has happened and all is not as it seems, because the series opens with the house covered in blood.That’s quite fun, and you don’t know how the story reaches that situation. Emma, Jill’s character, is under constant pressure – as she tries to deal with one person, her phone pings with a message from her dad, and then there’s another message from the builder.The heat’s slowly being turned up underneath her. There’s a lovely sequence in episode three where our neighbours Derek and Barbara are so angry with us, they start playing modern freeform jazz at full volume through the walls.The scene is like what’s going on inside John and Emma – they’re trying to live normally with a terrible noise in their heads… In a way the scene reflects the whole series – they’re trying to keep in control, bottling everything up, until they just explode. JH: I didn’t predict how it would end. I never imagined it would turn quite so gruesome, and I never expected it would go as far as it goes when it starts out in such a domestic setting.
JH:With suburban life, and a street like Shelbury Drive, we all like each other until someone does something to interfere with our lives.We like each other because we’re not getting in each other’s way but the minute you play your music, park over a driveway, or your teenager brings all their friends over, there’s a problem. In suburbia we’re all fine with each other as long as we’re leaving each other alone – that’s not friendship. If you say you love your neighbours because they don’t do anything to p*** you off, that’s a pretty low bar. In the first episode you see how quickly the neighbours react defensively – they all profess to like each other and yet within the first episode they all become obstructive.
I Think Most Of Us Can Relate To The Community Whatsapp Group Fiascos In The Series…
JH: I do have a WhatsApp group and ours mainly consists of bin talk.We live in a flat in a Victorian house and the bins are regularly blown over.There are six bins per house so there’s a debate about who puts the rubbish back in the bins. The comments by the neighbours in The Feud are very passive aggressive and it doesn’t take long to become out and out aggressive.The gloves are off and there’s no time for WhatsApps anymore. Another fun aspect of playing Emma is she thought everyone was cool with one another – never believe the WhatsApp group, Emma!
The Feud started on Monday, April 14 at 9pm on 5
What Are The Barnetts Like As A Family?
RPJ: Emma and John are trying to fix a fault in their relationship and had planned to move home, but Emma decides it would be better to stay and do up the house. Many people, especially at the moment, would understand it’s cheaper to do up your kitchen or build an extension compared to moving and the cost of stamp duty. However, John’s reasons for wanting to move are not as honest as he pretends. He finds himself in deeper water than intended and he’s trying to run away, so when Emma says they’re going to stay he has to go along with the decision.This compounds all the pressure he’s already feeling.
Photo: Emma and John Barnett, played by Jill Half-penny and Rupert Penry-Jones.
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