Danny Brocklehurst reveals the story behind this episode:
The two writers that have inspired me the most over the years are Jimmy McGovern and Tony Marchant. Their styles are very different but they both have a commitment to telling powerful, truthful stories through the medium of television drama.
"Although Sorted is designed as mainstream entertainment, the subjects we tackle - racism, religion, political aspiration, gun crime - are all serious topics."
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McGovern's Cracker and Marchant's Holding On are shows I return to again and again for the sheer audacity of their storytelling, as they both reflect important contemporary issues in an entertaining and accessible format.
With Sorted, as with Clocking Off and The Stretford Wives previously, I wanted to touch on meaty issues. Although the series is designed as mainstream entertainment, the subjects we tackle - racism, religion, political aspiration, gun crime - are all serious topics which deserve screen time.
Episode 6 is the most overtly 'issue' based episode. It deals with our responsibility as members of a society to stand up and be counted when called upon to do so. Fear is a powerful weapon in the criminal's armoury and witnesses to crime are intimidated out of giving evidence with alarming regularity.
Moral Dilemma
I'd researched this area for a drama a few years ago, which, unfortunately, never got made and felt that it was dramatic dynamite. It's a fascinating moral dilemma and moral dilemmas always make for powerful television.
"The robbery is terrifying, Barmpot's date with Polly is heart-warming, and the way the lads come together at the end to support him is wonderfully uplifting."
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To give this story to Barmpot - Labour councillor and self-announced 'man of the people', was I felt, a masterstroke, because of all our characters he was the one who would feel most compelled to act. Will Mellor is superb. There are so many scenes I enjoy in this episode that it seems unfair to try and single out a favourite. The robbery is terrifying, Barmpot's date with Polly is heart-warming, and the way the lads come together at the end to support him is wonderfully uplifting.
Power of the old-fashioned letter
The Harry and Charlie strand, which began in episode 1, is resolved here and Hugo Speer's nuanced performance as Charlie King reaches superb levels.
During the series, each episode contains a letter which has some significant effect on that week's story. This wasn't something we wanted to ram down the viewer's throat but it's there if you look for it. It proves that in a world of email, text and instant communication, the old-fashioned delivered letter still has the power to affect our lives. And thank goodness for that!
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