'Emotionally powerful' scenes in new series

The new series of Catastrophe will be a ‘fitting tribute’ to Carrie Fisher, Channel 4’s comedy chief said last night.

Phil Clarke explained the final episode of the forthcoming third season – which starts on February 28 – included ‘emotionally powerful scenes’, which were among the last the Star Wars legend ever shot.

However, writers and stars Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney have yet to work out how to address her death in the comedy, saying it was ‘too soon’ to think about it.

‘It’s hard to know think about what to do,’ Horgan said at a press screening of new episodes last night. ‘Hopefully, time will pass and we’ll have a fitting finish to that story.

Fisher, who plays the appalling mother of Delaney’s character, could only ever commit to short periods of filming on the first two series of the comedy. But she was given a substantial storyline in the sole episode in which she appears in the new series.

Horgan explained Fisher’s schedule meant ‘we didn’t have her for very long’, adding: ‘We wanted to know her better.’

‘For series three we wrote a bigger part for her character and we got to spend a lot more time with her. She was funny all the time. She was an incredibly witty person and liked saying aresholey things to everyone but also a really kind, lovely, supportive person.'

Horgan recalls how she came to be cast in the role, which was not specifically written for her. ‘We wanted Rob to have an awful mother, and luckily she was in the market for an awful woman,’ she said.

Fisher came on to their radar when they saw her hand Graham Norton a lifetime gong at the Attitude magazine awards.

‘Her speech was just amazing,’ Delaney said. ‘And Sharon said, "What if she played your mum?"  And I said, "Sharon you’re crazy". So we just looked up who her agent was.

‘No –  you tried to tweet her first,’ Horgan corrected him.

‘No response!’ Delaney admitted. ‘So we got her agent the scripts and she said, "OK fine." Thank god.’

‘Even the second series we didn’t have her for very long,’ Horgan said. ‘She flew over and did her bit for a day or two and of course we wanted to get to know her better, we idolised her, But we didn't really have a chance.

Then in series three we wrote this bigger, chunkier part for her in episode 6 and got to spend time with her and she became part of the gang. We feel very privileged and honoured.’

The death of her character is set to be covered in the fourth series of Catastrophe, which has already been commissioned.

Another of Fisher’s final roles was in the Sky Arts anthology Urban Myths, playing a waitress in a story about a possible apocryphal road trip Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando are said to have taken from New York to Ohio in an attempt to get home following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

However, screening of that comedy-drama has been shelved amid the furore over white actor Joseph Fiennes playing Jackson.

Published: 8 Feb 2017