Disney+ has released images showing a first look at their new series based on the 1997 film The Full Monty - filmed in locations around the North West, including Oldham.
Almost 25 years on from the BAFTA-winning film, the series will follow the original band of brothers as they navigate the post-industrial city of Sheffield and society’s crumbling healthcare, education, and employment sectors.
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The series was filmed in part in Royton’s The Greyhound pub, and even used furniture sourced locally from one surprised Royton woman.
Other parts of Greater Manchester saw the cameras come to town too, with filming for the eight-part series taking place in Bolton Town Centre.
According to Disney+, each episode will be one hour in length. The comedy-drama will uncover what happened to the gang after they put their kit back on, exploring their brighter, sillier and more desperate moments.
It will also highlight how the fiercely funny world of these working-class heroes – still residing in Sheffield – has changed in the intervening decades.
According to Disney+, Hugo Speer is set to reprise his role as Guy alongside other returning lead cast members, despite being sacked from the series last year after ‘inappropriate conduct’ claims.
Disney+ has been contacted for clarification.
The first-look images also introduce rising star Talitha Wing, who will play Gaz’s teenage daughter, Destiny Schofield.
Writer, creator, and executive producer Simon Beaufoy said, “It has been one of the great joys of my writing career to reunite this eccentric, irrepressible family of Sheffield men and women and see how 25 years, seven Prime Ministers and 100 broken political promises have affected their lives.”
Fellow writer, creator, and executive producer Alice Nutter added, “Entering the Monty world, where community, friends and family step in when the state has so abysmally failed, has been a great personal reminder of what is good about the world we live in.
“The series has been a pleasure and a privilege to write on.”
Among the lead cast reprising their roles from the original film are Robert Carlyle as Gaz, Mark Addy as Dave, Lesley Sharp as Jean, Hugo Speer as Guy, Paul Barber as Horse, Steve Huison as Lomper, Wim Snape as Nathan, and Tom Wilkinson as Gerald.
New cast members joining the ensemble include Paul Clayton as Lomper’s husband, Dennis.
Miles Jupp stars as recent divorcee and housing officer Darren, who looks up to the Monty men for advice on navigating adult life.
Sophie Stanton plays Hetty, a colleague and friend of Jean, and Phillip Rhys Chaudhary joins as Dilip, Deputy Headteacher at the school.
Newcomers Dominic Sharkey and Natalie Davies appear as Destiny’s mates Cal and Tabani respectively, alongside Arnold Oceng, who plays a talented graffiti artist.
Aiden Cook stars as wise-cracking 12-year-old “Twiglet”, while Tupele Dorgu portrays Destiny’s mother, Yaz.
The original 1997 BAFTA-winning movie is available to stream now on Disney+ in the UK.
Tickets to a special screening of the original movie, plus a Q&A with creator Simon Beaufoy at Prince Charles Cinema in London, on May 10 are available on the cinema’s website.
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