Airdate: Diana and I

UKTV will screen the one-off drama Diana and I, which unusually captures the impact of Princess Diana’s death without focussing on the Royal family.

Written by  Jeremy Brock (Mrs Brown, The Last King Of Scotland), and directed by Peter Cattaneo (The A Word, Rev, The Full Monty), Diana and I focuses on the impact Diana’s loss had on society and the unique outpouring of emotion that ensued.

Not to be confused with the 1997 Aussie feature Diana & Me starring Toni Collette.

Tamsin Greig (Episodes), Nico Mirallegro (My Mad Fat Diary), Kiran Sonia Sawar (Murdered by my Father) and Laurie Davidson (Will) star alongside Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’s Baby), Neil Morrissey (Line of Duty), Tuppence Middleton (Sense8), John Gordon Sinclair (Gregory’s Girl) and Roshan Seth (Ghandi) in the one-off 90-minute drama, produced by Big Talk Productions.

Set across the week that followed Princess Diana’s tragic death on 31 August 1997, the drama traces four lead characters’ fictional stories, in parallel but at times interlinked. Each will lift the lid on one extraordinary week in time, covering the tumultuous events that followed from that fateful Sunday to Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.

A mother, a son, a wife, a boyfriend – their human stories concern death, love, grief, greed, relationships, marriage – and will explore the role that chance and luck play in life.

Jack (Nico Mirallegro) is a shy 19 year-old, the only child of an adored mother who dies the same night as Princess Diana. He struggles to come to terms with her death while computing the loss of an icon who meant so much to both of them. Estranged from his father (Neil Morrissey), he seeks help from a young neighbour, Russell (Kingsley Ben-Adir).

Yasmin (Kiran Sonia Sawar) is unhappily married to Hassan (Asif Khan), a struggling businessman who can’t admit his failure. Affected deeply by news of Diana’s death, Yasmin’s patience snaps when their television is re-possessed while she is watching the coverage. Making a pilgrimage to London with their only daughter Aalia, she arrives unannounced on the doorstep of her Uncle Zaheer (Roshan Seth). Inspired by the public outpouring of emotion at Diana’s death, Yasmin goes on a journey of self-discovery.

Michael (Laurie Davidson) is a junior reporter on his honeymoon in Paris with his new wife Sophie (Charlotte Hope) when news of Diana’s death breaks. A fluent French speaker, Michael teams up with the charismatic Laura (Tuppence Middleton), a star reporter flown in to cover the story. Spending more and more time on the story at the expense of his honeymoon, Michael struggles to balance his career with his fledgling marriage.

Mary (Tamsin Greig) is a Glaswegian florist. Living alone with her mother (Gemma Jones) who is battling Alzheimer’s, she struggles for money. Mary hatches a plan to drive to London and sell flowers before Saturday’s funeral. With the help of her adoring friend Gordon (John Gordon Sinclair), she travels to the capital in an old coach filled with flowers. Unexpectedly caught up in the public expression of love for Diana, Mary discovers emotions she thought were long lost.

Saturday, September 9 at 6:30pm on UKTV.