Mint

Get ready for a new series about soaring romance, crushing heartbreak and what love might feel like when everyone outside of your family is terrified of you...

Charlotte Regan, the writer and director of Mint introduces her new drama below.

All episodes of Mint arrive on BBC iPlayer at 6am on Monday 20 April, with episodes airing on BBC One from that night.

• Watch Mint on BBC iPlayer and add to your Watchlist

What is Mint about?

The story of Mint is about Shannon who’s the daughter of a crime family, but the crime is very secondary to our story, which is about her love story. It's very much about the three women's love stories, whether that's romantic love stories or love stories amongst the family. So, the whole show has the backdrop and the tension of what is going on crime wise in that world, but at the forefront is Shannon falling in love with a boy called Arran who's part of the rival family. Cat the mum, and Dylan the dad, have fallen out of love and their marriage is coming to an end. It's all about love stories, really. I love rom-coms, so I just wanted to make a gangster romance.

How did you come up with the idea of Mint?

I’ve always loved gangster shows, gangster films, and I’d wanted them to centre around the women in the families. I think I always thought they were like the backbones of those kinds of families when you read about them and watch them. So, it came from that really, it started with Ollie, the grandma - she was one of the first characters and it just went from there.

Who is Ollie?

Ollie is the grandma we all want; she is a sweary, shouty, gun cleaning, very stylish grandma, who goes to the karaoke and picks up different men each night – she just loves life. She was one of the first characters that I wrote and it centred around her, but it became more about Shannon as it developed.

I’ve always proper loved Lindsay Duncan so when she said she’d [play Ollie], it was incredible. She’s perfect for Ollie. Lindsay is so gentle and kind in real life. But then, as Ollie, she’s so sarcastic; she’s incredible, her comedic timing is amazing. She’s just an incredible actress. We’re very lucky to have her.

What are the relationships between the three generations of women like?

They very much start the show having quite tense relationships with one another. I think Shannon is the character that’s so similar to her mum, so they can't help but clash. Ollie is a totally different person and doesn't really like the way that Cat has brought Shannon up, or how she's not let her be a part of the world and just overprotected her, in lots of ways. So, it's very much a journey of their friendship. Cat and Ollie's friendship is one of my favourite storylines. It starts with them swearing at each other constantly, and absolutely despising each other, through to them getting drunk, and going to a social club on a night out. So, it’s my favourite friendship of the whole show.

Shannon is very much changing her outlook on love and family and falling in love with Arran - that being a central part to her existence - but then realising that she doesn't have to come into the world, to be someone's partner, or someone's wife.

And Cat is having the same journey. She has based her entire existence on a man and revolve her world around that man, and then he suddenly decides he doesn't want that life anymore. And it's about her trying to find herself outside of that.

How does Arran fit into the story?

Arran becomes Shannon's real obsession. She's grown up as a princess just wanting to marry someone and settle down or has been told that is what she is capable of; all she can achieve in life. She’s very much following in her mum, Cat’s, footsteps. So as soon as she meets Arran, she knows he's different and they have this great friendship. But there is tension because Arran’s brother is one of the opposing forces in the area, against Dylan, so their love story is quite complicated. Shannon's view on love is slightly immature whereas Arran has a more wise outlook on it. Shannon has grown up in a tower and been sheltered from the world. Whereas Arran has just lived in it, like a normal kid would.

How did the magical realism in Mint come about?

The magical realism was always there from the start. It's just how I write, in that I've always loved music videos and stuff like that, where everything is about how the character feels and it doesn't need a reason to be stylised - the reason is the feeling I suppose, it’s emotionally motivated. When [Executive Producer] Theo [Barrowclough] first read the flying [scene] he said, ‘what are the rules to the flying?’ and I said there are no rules. It doesn't matter, it's just led by their emotions.

It started with the flying scene and then there's a sword fight at a racecourse - I'd always wanted to see a gang fight be more heightened instead of brutal. There are loads of shows that do brutal gangland violence, and this show was never intended to be that. All those shows do it and they have more money to make it great, and they have directors that know how to film big shoot ups whereas I don't. So, the intention was always we don't need to do another show like that, there's enough of them. We thought about how we could do it from the female perspective and make it more about like the domesticity of the family.

Why is Mint different?

We never see these shows or films where the women are legitimately the central characters and everyone else falls into secondary roles. It is very much about what the wife of a gangster would experience or what the daughter would experience, which I think is different and something we haven’t seen before.

And then hopefully the visual language, I think differentiates it from other shows like it; it never wants to be mad gritty or depressing or anything like that. It is meant to be a fun show. It's meant to have a lot of joy in it and even when things are dramatic that is done with a tone of joy and fun.

How did you get started in Film and TV? 

I started making music videos when I was about 15. Ended up making hundreds of grime and rap videos. I’d write treatments or storylines for those videos and eventually wrote and made my first short film Standby. I think the music video world is what really got me into visual storytelling. The amazing directors I was surrounded by like Quason Matthews who mentored me and encouraged me to keep telling bigger stories. Standby was a really simple short - two people in a car forming a friendship. I didn’t have much money nor did I have much experience directing actors so I kept it super simple and worked with my family and friends on the short. I got luck it got into some big festivals and got nominated for a BAFTA Award. 

From your experience what would you advise someone - perhaps with no connections to the business - who wants to start telling stories on screen?

I feel like its never been easier to make stuff. The sensational stuff I see these days made with phones etc is wild. You just need to keep making. Whether that’s TikTok editors or YouTube videos or music videos. I think those hundreds of music videos that I self shot and edited are where I learnt about directing. What coverage to get. What atmosphere you want to create on set. Everything.  

When I chat to younger people or people starting out they often seem really eager to jump steps or hold themselves to insanely high standards straight away. People are making their first short film and worrying about what festival it might get into. I think you need to take the pressure off. Just make what you want to make.  

What do you think was your breakthrough moment?

The moment I showed my nan something I’d make and she said ‘that’s nice that is Charli’.

What have been some of the key differences you’ve found in working in television rather than film?

I’m always keen for it to feel as similar as it can on set! Especially for the actors. The script stage is probably what differs the most. The speed scripts are written at in TV vs film. I feel like in film you spend years and years obsessing and you don’t go into prep until that script is fully ready. I’ve been on TV shows where the team are in prep and the drafts are still being written and I think that’s quite common. So you have to learn to constantly adapt to new scripts and changes. And help the actors through that process. Otherwise it feels the same. 

Can you expand on your writing process - do you write an outline before writing the script?

I write like a notebook full of ideas before I sit down on a computer to write. I’m bad for getting proper distracted with writing. Give me a laptop and I’m over here googling how long my dog has left to live, or if him not fetching the tennis ball means he’s depressed etc. So I need to really be strict and sit down with Final Draft once I’ve worked all the ideas out with pen and paper. It means I don’t get stuck as often. And I’m often writing two things at once as I find I like to jump onto something else now and then, helps me give a project some space to check I have not written pure sh*te. 

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given that you can share?

I was going to write some inspiring quote I’ve heard but honestly for all the books on writing I’ve read or quotes I’ve read I really can’t say any of them totally stick with me or work for me. I think everyone's process is so different. I wish I could wake up at 6am sit in silence and get 50 pages done but I just can’t. And I wish I could just ‘follow the joy’ but I’d be in bloody financial ruin if I waited around for joy to strike me. So for me the best advice is to take all the advice with a pinch of salt. None of it will be perfect for you and that’s ok.