‘Doctor Foster’ fans could be treated to a third series of the hit BBC One drama after all it seems.
Mike Bartlett, who created it, has hinted Suranne Jones could return to the titular role, following the huge success of the first two series.
He told Radio Times that because of the way the last series ended, there’s opportunity to find out what happens next for the characters.
He told the magazine: “That ending of series two leaves a lot open to come back to: where has the son Tom gone and what’s happening to him? What happens to the parents? That’s the sort of story territory we’d be in, but it’s not written yet.”
And it seems despite the show’s success, the BBC aren’t pushing the writer to pen a third series.
“It’s totally up to me,” he says. “No one has ever put pressure on me to make more of it. I think the BBC would rather I did something new, but if we do bring Doctor Foster back it will only thrive if we do it at the right time.”
Mike also revealed that there was only ever one person who he believed could play the role of Gemma Foster, admitting he “knew” it had to be Suranne Jones.
He explains: “Whoever played Gemma Foster had to be in every single scene for five hours in the first series. The list of actors you want to watch for five hours is not massive.
“Suranne is a brilliant, brilliant actor and people love her. Which is very useful, because she does some quite extreme things.
“So, I always thought it would be her but when you are doing something that difficult together, you need to look each other in the eye, suss each other out, you need to have a cup of tea together first. With some people, it can be two cups of tea, but with Suranne it was one cup. I knew it was her.”
Earlier this year, Suranne, who has bagged a BAFTA and NTA for her portrayal of the revenge-seeking doctor, admitted she was “hurt” by the mixed reviews that the second series received.
She told The Sunday Times: “It was so split, with people saying, ‘This is ridiculous, this is a romp, this is crazy — but I’ll watch it.’
“That hurt, though, in the sense of, ‘You’re saying it’s guilty-pleasure TV’. I don’t want to do guilty-pleasure TV.”
She also previously shared her thoughts on a possible third series, but remained pretty cryptic.
She told The Mirror: “If Mike comes up with another story then we’ll talk about it. But for now, like the first one, it’s got a really good, solid ending.”
Read the full interview with Mike Bartlett in this week’s Radio Times, out now. www.radiotimes.com
