You & Me is a heartbreaking romantic drama set in London that has an award-winning creative team behind it. Executive produced by none other than Russell T. Davies (It's A Sin, Doctor Who) and Dominic Treadwell Collins (EastEnders) their show premieres on new ITV streaming service ITVX before it comes to ITV1 later in 2023.
Among the main stars of the three-parter, also created by actor-turned-writer Jamie Davis, are Harry Lawtey, best known as hedonisitc Robert Spearing in banking drama Industry, Jessica Barden (The End of the F***ing World) and Sophia Brown (Giri/Haji). They play Ben, Jess and Emma as the drama follows their story over two different timelines with catastrophic events unfolding around them.
So here's everything you need to know about You & Me on ITV2 and ITVX...
You & Me release date
You & Me is a three-part drama that starts on ITV2 on Monday September 4 at 9pm with the remaining episodes shown on ITV2 on the subsequent Tuesday and Wednesday at the same time. The drama previously launched on ITV's new streaming service ITVX on Thursday February 23 2023 and continues to be available as a three-part box set on ITVX.
ITVX price, shows, live TV and what you need to know about ITV's streaming service
Is there a You & Me trailer?
Yes there's a You & Me trailer, which begins with Harry Lawtey as Ben explaining how meeting Jess turned his life around, before things change dramatically. Take a look below...
What is the plot of You & Me?
In You & Me, Ben (Harry Lawtey) is a young northern lad in London who finds his life changed forever when catastrophe strikes on the happiest day of his life. Emma (Jessica Barden) is a rising theatre star who hides tragedy behind her success and Jess (Sophia Brown) is a young woman whose life takes an unexpected turn when she’s running for a bus…
Told over two separate timelines across the three episodes, You & Me reveals, chapter by chapter, the tragedies that shape Ben, Emma and Jess. And as the "then" gives way to the "now", a chance encounter leads their lives (and their loved ones) to collide. They do find themselves offered a second chance at love, but will they take it or will the past hold them back?
The show is described by ITV as "warm, lyrical, engaging and enchanting, but also profoundly moving and unabashed in confronting the very real struggles that can be faced in the modern world, this is a contemporary take on the much-loved British romcom. It's a story about love…about finding love when you least expect it, about losing it, about parental and sibling love, about sex and friendship, about the difficult decisions we must all make in the name of love, and the often searingly painful cost of love".
Interviews: You & Me main cast — Harry Lawtey, Jessica Barden and Sophia Brown on playing Ben, Emma and Jess
Harry Lawtey plays heartbroken Ben in You & Me. He's best known for his role as hedonistic banker Robert Spearing in BBC and HBO drama Industry. He also stars in the Netflix movie The Pale Blue Eye.
Jessica Barden, who plays Emma, is best known for her roles in The End of the F***ing World, Pieces of Her and Far From The Madding Crowd. Jessica says: “I feel so lucky to be working with so many talented and iconic people. The type of story we are telling is what the British film and TV industry does best, and I can’t wait for people to see the show!”
The third of the three main stars of You & Us is Sophia Brown as Jess (see main first look picture above). She's about to star in The Witcher: Blood Origin and previously appeared in Giri/Haji and Borderland.
A series of chance encounters transforms the lives of the trio of young Londoners they play in You & Me.
When journalist Ben meets Jess while running for a bus, there’s an instant spark between them and it’s not long before they’re moving in together, but their happiness is soon shattered by a cruel twist of fate. Meanwhile, in a separate timeline a couple of years ahead, Emma is an up-and-coming theatre star who is privately grieving, and finds common ground with Ben when he arrives to profile her for a newspaper.
"I loved how delicate this world felt," says Sophia Brown. "I really felt that Jess and Ben had found this little pocket of London for themselves. I’ve been in that world, where you’re kind of lonely and a bit lost, then you find your people and it becomes everything to you. I wanted to take on the themes that they deal with: what love means, what grief means, and how you ride the wave of love and life."
Harry L:awtey adds: "The thing that really captures me is stories about ordinary people in which extraordinary things happen to them,’ . ‘This is a perfect example of that - it’s so much about the texture of life, what people go through and how they respond.’
One of the major obstacles facing Ben and Jess in the early stages of their relationship comes when they learn that Jess is pregnant with twins - which also provided Lawtey and Brown with some challenges very early in the filming process.
"Our first scene was having the babies together!" recalls Brown. "I thought, this is mental, but the moment Harry handed me one of the babies, I remember just looking in their eyes and being like, 'I am in love with this child, I will never let it go'. I think that set up the whole journey for us, because we had fallen in love with these two people."
Harry Lawtey agrees: "It was a great grounding, it worked really well,’ agrees Lawtey. ‘We shot a lot of very important stuff in the first week and I remember looking at the schedule thinking, “there’s a lot of big hitters in those first five days!” and I was quite worried about it. But in fact it was a real godsend, because it gave us the foundation for everything else that we did. Also, it’s very easy to get in your own head as an actor, but working with kids is great because it releases you from that - in the best possible way, you have no control! And our twins were a real treat - they were lovely."
Jessica Barden reveals more about her characters Emma, too: "Emma is a young woman who is privately dealing with grief. She’s a normal person trying to deal with an extraordinary situation, which happens to us all, and she’s trying her best to carry on with her life."
Who else is starring in You & Me?
Look out for Julie Hesmondhalgh (Coronation Street, Broadchurch, The Pact) as Ben’s mum Linda, while Andi Osho (Stay Close, The Sandman, Breeders) is Jess’ mum Pam. Award-winning stage star Janie Dee (Crashing) plays Emma’s mum Hannah, while Lily Newmark (Sex Education, Temple) is playing Emma’s sister Joey.
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