Jason Donovan and Martine McCutcheon will return to their soap roots for an ambitious new soap series on ITV1. In post-watershed show Echo Beach, they will play Daniel Marrack (Jason) and Susan Penwarden (McCutcheon), two soap stars whose complicated affairs are played out amongst teenage angst, family loyalties and tested friendships. The soap itself will be set in the fictional surfing town of Polnarren, in Cornwall. Meanwhile, in an innovative twist, Echo Beach will be accompanied by a companion series on ITV1 called Moving Wallpaper, about the fictional production team who put the soap together. Primeval star Ben Miller will play harrassed producer Jonathan Pope - head honcho of Echo Beach Productions - as his team struggle to make up storylines for Echo Beach and are driven to distraction by his demands. Stars including Footballers' Wives actress Susie Amy will then cross over between the two series. Real-life production company Kudos - the people behind Life On Mars and Spooks - will start work on the two 12-part series later this summer.
