David Nicholls, the bestselling author of One Day, has admitted he is "still sad" that the BBC One adaptation of his novel Us missed off a key location from the book.

Ad

The book follows a married couple, Douglas (Tom Hollander) and Connie (Saskia Reeves), who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Europe with their teenage son - despite Connie's assertions that she no longer wants to be married to Douglas.

Speaking during a press Q&A alongside various cast members, Nicholls revealed that a number of locations featured in the novel had to be cut - including Munich in Germany, where tensions boil over in the book.

Asked about the challenges of adapting the novel for screen, he said, "When you put that [extensive travelling] in the script, it becomes a series of negotiations, because it's hugely problematic, and you can't... there's an episode in the book where he has an hour to see Florence and he tries and it goes wrong, and it's a really lovely little set piece but you can't just drop that in, you have to make certain allowances, so we did have to cross out Munich, and Madrid, and one or two museums."

He continued, "There's the pragmatic business of filming the story and the changes you have to make to make that work. I'm still sad we didn't quite get to Munich, there's some good stuff in Munich. The break-up and... there's a long, simmering, dark night on a sleeper train from Amsterdam to Munich, and then it all explodes in Munich... [But] it's the business of adaptation."

Us
BBC Pictures

However, the four-part adaptation still manages to pack in a number of European cities and famous museums, including the Louvre in Paris, which features heavily in episode one.

Ad

Us starts on BBC One this Sunday (20th September) at 9pm with all four episodes being available on BBC iPlayer after it’s aired. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide.

Authors

Flora CarrDrama Writer, RadioTimes.com

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

Overall rating

Ad
Ad
Ad
Create an image depicting a festive scene with elements from the top Christmas songs, such as a snowy New York for 'Fairytale of New York', a cozy home setting for 'Last Christmas', and a glamorous Christmas party for 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'. Include musical notes and festive decorations to represent the spirit of these iconic Christmas songs.

RT offer

Immediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live events

hello
An image depicting a festive scene with iconic Christmas elements such as a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with twinkling lights, snow gently falling, and perhaps a cozy fireplace in the background. The image should capture the essence of popular Christmas songs, with musical notes and lyrics subtly included in the design, representing a playlist of classic Christmas tunes.

summer

Immediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live eventsImmediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live eventsImmediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live events

More