After dazzling the Strictly dancefloor and making waves in EastEnders, Rose Ayling-Ellis stars in a brand new BBC drama. But her co-star Eddie Marsan was thrown by intensity.
Eddie Marsan was taken aback by one of Rose Ayling-Ellis’ habits(Image: BBC/Warp Films/Matt Squire)
Eddie Marsan and Rose Ayling-Ellis got on like a house on fire while filming for the BBC’s latest thriller, Reunion – but one of her habits took him aback.
In the four-parter, the pair portray Stephen, an overprotective ex-detective, and Miri, a young woman who returns home from university only to find out the man who murdered her father Ray, Daniel Brennan (Matthew Gurney), has been released from prison. Anne-Marie Duff also joins the cast as Christine, Miri’s widowed mother, who is desperate to understand why Daniel killed her husband.
But amid the intense story, which is also set to shed a thought-provoking light on the deaf community, Rose Ayling-Ellis was always up for a laugh while filming for the show.
And Eddie Marsan admits that he was particularly struck by her intensity. “She’s so funny,” he says. “But whenever she communicates with you, she looks you dead in the eye – even if she’s pulling your leg!”
The Strictly Come Dancing winner, who took part in the competition back in 2021, admits that the small size of the deaf community can be frustrating.
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But when she first read the script for BBC One’s Reunion, she immediately knew who should play the lead. She’s known Matthew Gurney for years after the pair first met at a workshop.
Rose Ayling-Ellis portrays Miri in the BBC’s latest thriller, Reunion(Image: BBC/Warp Films/Matt Squire)
Meanwhile, for Eddie, 56, the project meant reuniting with an old friend: “I love working with Anne-Marie. She’s a very old friend of mine.” For Matthew, Reunion is a career-defining moment – his first lead role in a major TV drama. But more than that, it’s a chance to flip the narrative around deaf representation.
“As deaf people, we rarely get opportunities like this,” he says, “I’ve been waiting for this for a very, very long time. It’s about time we show what we can do.”
But he didn’t immediately warm up to Daniel. “When I first read the script, I wasn’t sure about him,” Matthew says, “I didn’t know if he was a good guy or a bad guy.”
That moral ambiguity is central to the show – Daniel isn’t just an ex-con. He’s the man who murdered Christine’s husband, Ray, tearing a whole family apart.
Despite the gravity of the role, Matthew found himself welcomed on set with open arms. “Deafness is a spectrum,” he says, “I’m a sign language actor, so from day one, it went really well. I didn’t feel excluded. It’s so easy when you’ve got the right access.” An interpreter was always on hand to ensure smooth communication between cast and crew, making the bilingual set a truly inclusive space.
One of Daniel’s biggest challenges upon release is reconnecting with his daughter, Carly. Played by How to Have Sex star Lara Peake, Carly is wary of the man she barely knows.
“She’s not welcoming,” Matthew says, “Daniel still sees her as a little girl, but she’s grown up without him. He has to meet her for the first time again.”
Rose knew her long-time pal Matthew Gurney would be perfect for the role of Daniel Brennan(Image: BBC/Warp Films/Matt Squire)
Lara, on the other hand, teases a push-pull dynamic between the two. “She still wants to believe he’s not the monster everyone says he is, so she allows room for redemption,” she says.
Building that emotional connection on screen wasn’t always easy. Their first day of filming was a baptism by fire – an intense cemetery scene. “It was one of the most important moments in the series,” Lara says. Matthew adds: “That was really hard because we’d only known each other for a month. But then everything fit into place. We built our relationship from there.”
Off-screen, Matthew was eager for Lara to experience the real deaf community. “We took her to our Deaf Club to show her what it’s like to be a CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult),” he says. “She’s been to a few events now and she’s done really well.”
The real turning point? A football match. “She just instinctively tapped someone on the shoulder to get their attention,” Matthew says, “She’s already absorbed the identity. I didn’t have to tell her – she just did it.”
While Daniel seeks redemption, Christine is still searching for answers in a desperate bid to explain why Daniel killed Ray. “She has her own version of deafness,” says Anne-Marie Duff. “She never heard the reason why Daniel did what he did. There’s a vacuum she needs to fill to move forward.”
Stephen, her boyfriend and a retired detective, sees things differently. “He’s convinced Daniel is hellbent on revenge for his time in prison,” Eddie says, “So Stephen’s determined to protect Christine and Miri. He thinks he needs to rescue her, but what she really needs is closure.”
Miri, on the other hand, is more forgiving than either of them, and grieves differently for her father Ray, who died when she was very young.
Anne-Marie Duff and Eddie Marsan join the cast as Christine and Stephen (Image: BBC/Warp Films/Matt Squire)
Anne-Marie and Lara both embraced the challenge of learning British Sign Language on the set of Reunion. “I loved watching the hearing crew catch up with the deaf crew,” Anne-Marie says, “They were learning how to sign.”
For Eddie, the experience offered a surprising silver lining. “We have teenage children,” he says in reference to Anne-Marie, “So filming was decompressing.” Anne-Marie shares one 15-year-old son with ex-husband James McAvoy, while Eddie is a father-of-four.
When they weren’t filming, the cast found another way to bond – at the pub. Executive producer Mark Herbert co-owns Fagan’s in Sheffield, which quickly became their go-to spot and a safe space. “It was a good place to get to know each other,” Lara says, “Everyone mingled with everyone. Definitely one of my best memories.”
Beyond all the drama, Reunion carries a powerful message. Anne-Marie believes it’s about the importance of communication. “It doesn’t matter if you get it wrong,” she says, “We should just try to communicate with each other.”
For Matthew, the show is a call to action for the industry. “If there are opportunities with access, lots of us are going to thrive,” he says, “But we haven’t had that. I’m hoping Reunion will change the game.”
