'They can't stand each other!'

Sharon Horgan and James McAvoy on playing a warring couple thrown together in lockdown

- HANNAH DAVIES & JUDY EWENS

On paper, a drama set during lockdown might not sound like the basis for much entertainment or escapism. But BBC2’s Together has found a way to fuse humour with heartbreak to expose the pressures that the coronavirus pandemic puts on one couple’s already strained marriage.

James McAvoy (His Dark Materials) and Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe) play the suburban spouses, called simply He and She, who have spent years quietly loathing each other and who are only still together for the sake of their 10-year-old son.

So when the first lockdown hits in March 2020, things get intense quickly. The pair hurl insults at each other like confetti and argue about anything and everything, even whether their son should be called Arthur or Arty for short, and regularly break the fourth wall to rage at the camera.

But as the COVID death toll rises and a family tragedy turns their world upside down, they’re forced to re-evaluate themselves and their falling marriage.

Here, James, 42, and Sharon, 50, tell us more about their timely one-off drama, which they shot in just 10 days...

How would you describe the storyline of Together?

SHARON The overall premise is a really simple one. It’s about two people who can’t stand each other being stuck together during lockdown, and we go through a mad journey with them. Essentially it’s about their relationship and how they find a way to come together over the course of the lockdown.

What was it about the script that enticed you to do it?