Double Act (TV Adaptation)
Encyclopedia
Double Act is a TV adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson
's best selling book, Double Act
. The telefilm was made in 2002, for Channel 4
, starring Birmingham twins, Zoe and Chloe Tempest-Jones. It was directed by Cilla Ware.
Their mother, Opal died after their birth.
They are happy together, but then Dad gets a new girlfriend, Rose.
The twins and Gran hate her. Dad decides to make things worse for them when he loses his job.
He sends Gran to a Senior Citizens' Home and takes his three girls to the country, to open a bookshop. The bookshop more or less fails.
The twins make enemies with an overweight boy they nickname "Blob" and his gang. In the book the twins are brunettes, but in the film they are redheads.
Because they totally loathe their new life, they do everything bad at school and then regret it.
They apologise to Dad and make him biscuits.
Whilst doing this, Ruby comes across a Newspaper Advert for an audition for a Television adaptation of the novel "The Terrible Tempest Twins," which was probably named after Zoe and Chloe.
Garnet isn't keen but Ruby insists on asking Dad. He clearly says no, so Ruby steals money from Rose and makes Garnet go to Birmingham with her to the audition.
The casting director (played by Double Acts author Jacqueline Wilson
) is very impressed with Ruby.
But then it's Garnet's turn and she goes completely blank. Dad turns up and he is furious.
When they are watching the news that night, Ruby appears on TV giving a quick wave to the camera.
Then they show the filming location, a boarding school called Marnock Heights.
Ruby insists on secretly writing a letter to the headteacher, to try to get Garnet and her a place.
They get a reply with a brochure. Then they realise when they show Dad and Rose, that it costs £10,000, unless they get a scholarship.
They sit an entrance exam, but only one girl can get the scholarship.
Ruby is so confident that it's her, that when Garnet gets the place, she goes on a hateful resentment towards her, desperate to be different.
Garnet copies her to be her twin, and then Ruby loses the rag completely and violently chops off her pigtails.
She won't talk to Garnet at all and says "they are split for ever and ever" and then the day comes when Garnet is going to Marnock Heights, when Ruby suddenly regrets her actions and apologises.
They make up and Garnet later calls her with her new mobile and everything is brilliant, considering she was really nervous beforehand.
The film closes with the quote "We'll always be Ruby and Garnet, for ever and ever and ever."
Jacqueline Wilson
Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, FRSL is an award-winning English author, known for her vast and diverse work in children's literature. Her novels have been adapted numerous times for television, and commonly deal with such challenging themes as adoption, divorce and mental illness...
's best selling book, Double Act
Double Act (novel)
Double Act is a 1995 children's novel by Jacqueline Wilson, written in the style of a diary, which follows the story of identical twins, Ruby and Garnet...
. The telefilm was made in 2002, for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, starring Birmingham twins, Zoe and Chloe Tempest-Jones. It was directed by Cilla Ware.
Plot
Ruby and Garnet are identical twins, who once lived with their Dad and their Gran.Their mother, Opal died after their birth.
They are happy together, but then Dad gets a new girlfriend, Rose.
The twins and Gran hate her. Dad decides to make things worse for them when he loses his job.
He sends Gran to a Senior Citizens' Home and takes his three girls to the country, to open a bookshop. The bookshop more or less fails.
The twins make enemies with an overweight boy they nickname "Blob" and his gang. In the book the twins are brunettes, but in the film they are redheads.
Because they totally loathe their new life, they do everything bad at school and then regret it.
They apologise to Dad and make him biscuits.
Whilst doing this, Ruby comes across a Newspaper Advert for an audition for a Television adaptation of the novel "The Terrible Tempest Twins," which was probably named after Zoe and Chloe.
Garnet isn't keen but Ruby insists on asking Dad. He clearly says no, so Ruby steals money from Rose and makes Garnet go to Birmingham with her to the audition.
The casting director (played by Double Acts author Jacqueline Wilson
Jacqueline Wilson
Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, FRSL is an award-winning English author, known for her vast and diverse work in children's literature. Her novels have been adapted numerous times for television, and commonly deal with such challenging themes as adoption, divorce and mental illness...
) is very impressed with Ruby.
But then it's Garnet's turn and she goes completely blank. Dad turns up and he is furious.
When they are watching the news that night, Ruby appears on TV giving a quick wave to the camera.
Then they show the filming location, a boarding school called Marnock Heights.
Ruby insists on secretly writing a letter to the headteacher, to try to get Garnet and her a place.
They get a reply with a brochure. Then they realise when they show Dad and Rose, that it costs £10,000, unless they get a scholarship.
They sit an entrance exam, but only one girl can get the scholarship.
Ruby is so confident that it's her, that when Garnet gets the place, she goes on a hateful resentment towards her, desperate to be different.
Garnet copies her to be her twin, and then Ruby loses the rag completely and violently chops off her pigtails.
She won't talk to Garnet at all and says "they are split for ever and ever" and then the day comes when Garnet is going to Marnock Heights, when Ruby suddenly regrets her actions and apologises.
They make up and Garnet later calls her with her new mobile and everything is brilliant, considering she was really nervous beforehand.
The film closes with the quote "We'll always be Ruby and Garnet, for ever and ever and ever."
Cast
- Ruby... Zoe Tempest-Jones
- Garnet... Chloe Tempest-Jones
- Dad... Paul Warriner
- Rose... Rachael Downling
- Gran... Ann BeachAnn BeachAnn Beach is a British actress.She is the mother of Charlotte Coleman and Lisa Coleman. She is perhaps best remembered for her supporting role as Sonia Barrett, the quirky next-door neighbour on the British comedy Fresh Fields, starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers...
- Bob... Charles Pette
- Miss Debenham... Charlotte ColemanCharlotte ColemanCharlotte Ninon Coleman was an English actress best known for playing Scarlett in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral , Jess in the television drama Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and her childhood roles of Sue in Worzel Gummidge and the character Marmalade Atkins...
- Casting Director... Jacqueline WilsonJacqueline WilsonDame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, FRSL is an award-winning English author, known for her vast and diverse work in children's literature. Her novels have been adapted numerous times for television, and commonly deal with such challenging themes as adoption, divorce and mental illness...