Nursery to take part in TV comedy drama

The nursery will be the setting for the first episode of ‘Aunties’, a comedy drama about the lives and working relationships of six eccentric people who work in a private day nursery in the North of England. The scenes will be shot on 27, 28 and 29 September.

The plot centres around the merger of the nursery with a junior school, which threatens the jobs of some of the staff, especially the person who has been there the longest. The six episodes, each running for 45 minutes, will follow the way the staff at the nursery deal with the merger.

Adam Paulden, co-writer of ‘Aunties’, said, ‘We want to highlight the red tape and the hilarity of having to go through the system. But there is also a touching side about how people can be very caring and how in the worst circumstances care can prevail.’

Up to ten children will feature in the background. They will be required to do very little, as most of the scenes do not involve children. However, there will be three feature roles, where the children will have a few more bits to do, such as pretending to be very sick.

Pamela Obasa, operations manager at Star Day Nursery, described the setting’s work on the show as ‘a good opportunity’. She added, ‘Having looked at the script and the storyline, we know that it’s not detrimental to our setting or to nurseries in general.’

Ms Obasa also said, ‘It’s a good and different experience for the children. We have cameras in the rooms for role play, so it’s wonderful that they will be seeing big cameras. We will work out a schedule for the television crew, so that our children are not disrupted.’

The private nursery, which will get £100 a day when shooting takes place next week,is currently drafting a consent form and a letter with information about the show to parents. ‘The parents we’ve spoken to are excited and on our side,’ said Ms Obasa.  

The show’s name, ‘Aunties’, is used as a respectful term of address for people who are not your real aunties. ‘It’s a joke,’ Mr Paulden said. ‘There is a work experience boy and he has to be called Auntie Stephen.’

‘Little Britain’ actor Matt Lucas has been involved in the project by giving advice to the script writers. The cast include children’s television actors Annette Badland and Clive Rowe (pictured), who have both featured in Doctor Who. The other co-producer is Alexander Rosenberg.

Mr Paulden, who is also a co-director at Paulden Hall Productions, said, ‘We were inspired by some of the most recent comedies, such as "The Office" and "The Royle Family". This is a fresh way of using the elements these comedies share – a closed setting and eccentric characters.’

Next month, the production company will attend the MIPCOM television festival in Paris to present the pilot to television channels and try to strike a deal with either Sky or Channel 4. If the show takes off, Mr Paulden hopes to continue shooting at Star Day Nursery and complete the project next spring.