Sharon Horgan interview
How did you first become aware of Lorna Martin's book, Woman On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown?
It was sent to me - it was such a long time ago now, I can't even remember who sent it! I read it when I was on holiday and immediately liked her writing. She made me laugh a lot - and her style and humour really come across in the series. I liked the friendships in her book, too - the women are blunt and honest with each other. And I liked that it was based on real life; it was an ongoing story.
It took a while for the TV series to get off the ground. Why was that, and did you always have faith in the project?
When I initially spoke to Lorna she was about to have her first baby, so things had changed for her since she wrote the book and we were both busy, so it took a little while to get off the ground.
Sometimes things don't happen immediately because of 'TV reasons' but it was never because of Lorna's writing or because of the idea or anything like that - but yes, I always had faith in it.
And UKTV and W have been absolutely lovely and couldn't have been more helpful and supportive. I think it's exciting for them too because it's their first ever original scripted commission for the channel, so it's all quite new to all of us - new team, new panel, but it's been a really lovely experience. And we couldn't have got luckier with the cast: Nina and Eileen and Kerry have worked so hard to get it right and I know it's made it easier for Lorna having them there. Lorna really deserves the credit for writing the script. I co-wrote the first episode alongside her but otherwise it's all her work and she's done a fantastic job.
Always, if she sent me a script, there was something in it that really made me laugh and that I knew would work.
How did the story develop?
It's interesting because Laura's job is one that you might, from the outside, think is glamorous and it's a job people would kill to do but what happened was she was missing deadlines and missing flights and fucking it up. So that felt like a good base and then we always thought it would be interesting to see the character Laura with other women at different stages of their lives.
There's a great scene where something lovely happens to one of the friends, and Laura just gets up and walks out because she can't handle it...
Yes, well she does whisper a very small 'congratulations' first! [laughs]. But yes. I'm glad that works.
These friends, you know they do give a shit about each other but sometimes you don't feel great for your friends when things are going well for them and your life is unravelling.
Seeing how people react to hearing a friend's good news is an interesting dynamic
There have been many excellent dramas and comedies which are very honest about women of a certain age struggling with life, including of course Catastrophe. Why do you think those themes have such resonance with modern audiences?
Viewers respond to seeing people having difficulties on screen because it makes them feel it's okay, like, 'maybe I'm not the only one'. Occasionally it's nice to escape into an aspirational world but a lot of the time if you're telling a story that's really honest and really relatable then I kind of think, why wouldn't you want to see that?
Would you make a good therapist yourself?
I kind of think I'm not a great talker but I am a good listener. I think hopefully I have an interest in human nature and I do spend all of my time listening to people because I'm a writer.
So yeah, I think I would. But you know, part time, or a summer job [laughs].