Diamond life: Sophie Turner and Frank Dillane as Joan and Boisie Hannington in Joan. Image: Susie Allnutt / ITV
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Wham, bam, the 1980s are back. And not just in the form of the massive disparity between the wealthy few and the rest of us following years of Conservative government. Because with ITV’s Joan – which arrives on our screens just weeks before Disney+’s adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals – TV drama is going back in time.
Joan stars Sophie Turner – a big return to the small screen following her long-running role as Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones – as Joan Hannington, the real-life jewel thief who gatecrashed the high life thanks to a knack for swallowing diamonds and a penchant for playing dress up. It’s full of high-end fashion and soundtracked by top pop songs from the era, but also packs an emotional and political punch.
“It’s really the origins of how she comes to be this diamond-wearing thief,” says Turner, when she and co-star Frank Dillane meet Big Issue in Central London. “Because she has to go through a hell of a lot to get there.”
Sophie Turner’s Joan with daughter Kelly (Mia Millichamp-Long). Image: Susie Allnutt / ITV
At the start of the show, Joan is a million miles away from the glamour and glitz of the world she aspires to join. She’s stuck in a relationship with an abusive small-time criminal and raising their daughter Kelly with little help or money. But when he goes on the run, she goes on the adventure of a lifetime.
Sophie Turner fell for her latest alter-ego immediately. “The ambition of a woman that’s stuck in 1980s London – which was very misogynistic at that time. And she was confined to this toxic relationship with this awful man,” she says.
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“She is filled with so much ambition and persistence and resilience. I thought she was just remarkable.”
Joan loses everything before she gambles on a life of crime. She sleeps rough and on buses, before landing a job at a high-street jeweller, where she learns about diamonds, while trying to avoid her sleazy boss. There was, says Turner, a Robin Hood aspect to Hannington. “That’s exactly what it is,” Turner says, looking delighted. “She’s stealing from the rich and giving to the poor… meaning herself! But still, I suppose in some ways she is like Robin Hood. It’s also her form of being outspoken and taking revenge. And who better to take from than the man who’s assaulting her at work? People always root for the rebels, because the rebels are the people who have the guts to stand up and say something.”
Dillane arrives to the interview first. When Turner turns up moments later it’s a happy reunion. They haven’t seen each other since filming ended a year ago. “We tried to meet up, but it didn’t quite happen,” Turner says.
It’s been an eventful time, during which Sophie Turner has returned to live in the UK after years in the US.
Turner says, “It’s so nice to be back. And nice to have this prime-time slot. It’s a story that will appeal to so many people. There are a lot of similarities between now and back then – the cost of living crisis is so extreme. Not only is this a heist drama, not only is it a love story, it’s also a serious drama about a woman getting her life back together.”
Dillane plays antiques dealer and classic 1980s wide-boy Boisie Harrington. After a chance meeting with Joan, the pair become partners-in-crime – she steals the diamonds, he sells them on. It’s lucrative work and allows these two working-class grifters to join the high society. “It’s all about class, I think, this show,” says Dillane, star of Fear the Walking Dead and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. “And it was interesting to focus on this female gangster. Her nickname was the Godmother.
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“So it is this female take on being a boss. It comes with the violence, excitement and glamour, but something Sophie did so brilliantly – and that Joan has – is this care and love, which the men all had beaten out of them in some way. A big part of approaching the character was ironing out my middle-class niceties.”
Underpinning Turner’s performance is Joan’s desire to be reunited with her daughter. “Richard [Laxton], our director, was very good at reminding me of that. Do you remember?” she says to Dillane. “Because would get caught up in the excitement of the glitz and glamour like Joan. And before every scene, he’d go: remember, you’ve got a daughter, where’s Kelly? That was so helpful to remember where she’s coming from.
“Because it was fun for Joan to dress up and become these characters and there’s also always been a part of her that’s drawn to the unattainable. But it all comes from a desperate need. She wants to provide a life for her daughter, who has been taken into foster care.”
The actors got to know the real Joan during filming. “She’s mad and amazing and wonderful,” Turner says.
“She’s such a force of nature,” agrees Dillane. “I still get phone calls from her. She refers to me as her bitch, but I’ll take it, I don’t want to get on the wrong side of the Godmother.”
When it came to research, Sophie Turner had one key issue she wanted to perfect. “I was mainly concerned about the 1980s dancing,” she grins. “I asked my mum how she danced in the ’80s, but she danced so poorly that didn’t help. So we had to get a movement coach because none of us could really do it.”
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The Joan soundtrack will have viewers of a certain age reaching for their dancing shoes. Wham!, ABC, Bucks Fizz, Soft Cell, Duran Duran, KC and the Sunshine Band and The Pretenders all feature in the opening two episodes.
Turner says, “I’m glad we got some good songs. That’s where all the budget went.”
Joan is on ITV on Sunday and Monday nights and available as a box set on ITVX.
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