The Stage

EastEnder Wallace in new drama

Published Wednesday 29 March 2006 at 09:05 by Liz Thomas

Exclusive: Jessie Wallace is to star in a new BBC drama billed as a Pygmalion-style love story, her first project since leaving EastEnders last year.

The single drama is still in the early stages of development and is likely to be between 90 minutes and two hours long. It is being penned by Births, Marriages and Deaths creator Tony Grounds.

Grounds, who is currently working on football exposé All in the Game with Ray Winstone for Channel 4, has also worked on BBC dramas When I’m 64 and Family Business.

This new production tells of a woman who is a night cleaner and falls in love with the headmaster of the posh school where she sends her son.

Talking exclusively to The Stage, Grounds said: “It is something of an unusual love story. There is an element of Pygmalion in the story - because of the difference in backgrounds.”

Drama executives at the Corporation are keen to ensure Wallace, who became a household name as Kat Slater on the BBC flagship soap, capitalises on her success and popularity.

John Yorke, BBC controller of continuing drama series, said the actress, who trained at London’s Poor School, had star quality and it was important to nurture such talent.

The move echoes former EastEnder Martine McCutcheon’s stint as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady - the musical adaptation of Pygmalion.

The Corporation also has projects lined up for Wallace’s former co-star Shane Richie. Drama series Father Frank has already been commissioned for BBC1 and will feature the actor as a Catholic priest with doubts about his faith.