In 2001 David appeared with Kate Ashfield in a short film called Sweetnight Goodheart. They would appear together again in 2002 in the BBC Radio 4 radio play called The Island and then again in the ITV movie Secret Smile.
In the film we get to watch Pete try to finish with Juliet but can't bear the idea of hurting her. To soften the blow, he cooks her a gourmet meal...and it doesn't really go as planned.
The film was written and directed by BAFTA award winner Dan Zeff who also directed the Doctor Who episode Love and Monsters. You can watch the film here on Dan's website.
The rest of the cast :
Anthea - Diana Hardcastle
Colman - Cliff Parisi
Yasmin - Thusitha Jayasundera
Old Lady - Ann Queensberry
Saffy - Sian Reeves
Jane - Alex Kelly
Tom - Bruce MacKinnon
Dad - Barry McCarthy
The short was shown at the 2001 Edinburgh Film Festival and 45th Regus London Film Festival.
The 9:16 short was also shown on BBC 2 as part of Ways to Leave Your Lover, a series of five films exploring the break-up of relationships. The other films were Unscrew, Stag, Dog and Dumping Elaine and they aired Tuesday 25 March 2003, 11.20 pm-12.10 am
David Thompson, Head of BBC Films and Executive Producer said: "Ways To Leave Your Lover is a real testament to the wealth of talent at work in this country today, with each short demonstraing the diversity and individuality of the writers and directors involved in this project." - from BBC Press Release
"Captivating..splendid acting, perfect timing, and a funny, clever, touching script by Dan Zeff, who also directed who also directed with panache...Best of all, there was an exquisite final twist, as it became clear that Juliet had known of Pete's true intention all along, but had cunningly outwitted him, and when he mumbled "I never actually proposed", she calmly replied "I never actually accepted". - The Evening Standard - Victor Lewis-Smith - March 26, 2003
"It's not you, it's me. We need to move on with our lives. We can still be friends.
If breaking up is hard to do then writing scripts about breaking up without resorting to the ghastly cliches and euphemisms of a relationship's final moments must be even harder. It is to their credit that the directors and writers of these five short films largely swerve the standard texts of lost love: there is no I Will Survive empowerment, no scenes in expensive restaurants as extras act scandalised. That is not to say that there are no pitfalls: . . .
Paradoxically, the most successful explorations of the subject keep things witty and urbane. Dan Zeff's cautionary tale Sweetnightgoodheart observes David Tennant's attempts to ditch his girlfriend (Kate Ashfield) spiral out of control." - The Sunday Times - Critics Choice - March 23 2003 - Victoria Segal
"The painful and often farcical circumstances surrounding relationship break-ups are explored in this collection of five short dramas from some of the UK's most talented writer/directors - Dan Zeff, Clara Glynn, Ian Iqbal Rashid, Andrea Arnold and Peter Lydon. The films - Sweetnightgoodheart , Unscrew, Stag, Dog and Dumping Elaine - have all won critical acclaim on the festival circuit, and each examines what happens to individuals at the moment people leave one another. Moving, surreal and viciously funny." - The Guardian - Pick of the Day - March 25, 2003
"Ways to Leave Your Lover (BBC Two) was a collage of five short films about couples breaking up, or trying to break up. Some - Sweetnightgoodheart , starring Kate Ashfield and David Tennant, and written and directed by Dan Zeff; and Dumping Elaine, written and directed by Peter Lydon and starring Susan Lynch and Matthew Delamare -fizzed better within the constraints of a ten-minute slot than did some of the others. But all of these films underlined how much you can achieve in a cleverly distilled, doll's-house-size drama." - The Times - March 26, 2003 - Joe Joseph
In the film we get to watch Pete try to finish with Juliet but can't bear the idea of hurting her. To soften the blow, he cooks her a gourmet meal...and it doesn't really go as planned.
The film was written and directed by BAFTA award winner Dan Zeff who also directed the Doctor Who episode Love and Monsters. You can watch the film here on Dan's website.
Anthea - Diana Hardcastle
Colman - Cliff Parisi
Yasmin - Thusitha Jayasundera
Old Lady - Ann Queensberry
Saffy - Sian Reeves
Jane - Alex Kelly
Tom - Bruce MacKinnon
Dad - Barry McCarthy
The short was shown at the 2001 Edinburgh Film Festival and 45th Regus London Film Festival.
The 9:16 short was also shown on BBC 2 as part of Ways to Leave Your Lover, a series of five films exploring the break-up of relationships. The other films were Unscrew, Stag, Dog and Dumping Elaine and they aired Tuesday 25 March 2003, 11.20 pm-12.10 am
David Thompson, Head of BBC Films and Executive Producer said: "Ways To Leave Your Lover is a real testament to the wealth of talent at work in this country today, with each short demonstraing the diversity and individuality of the writers and directors involved in this project." - from BBC Press Release
"Captivating..splendid acting, perfect timing, and a funny, clever, touching script by Dan Zeff, who also directed who also directed with panache...Best of all, there was an exquisite final twist, as it became clear that Juliet had known of Pete's true intention all along, but had cunningly outwitted him, and when he mumbled "I never actually proposed", she calmly replied "I never actually accepted". - The Evening Standard - Victor Lewis-Smith - March 26, 2003
If breaking up is hard to do then writing scripts about breaking up without resorting to the ghastly cliches and euphemisms of a relationship's final moments must be even harder. It is to their credit that the directors and writers of these five short films largely swerve the standard texts of lost love: there is no I Will Survive empowerment, no scenes in expensive restaurants as extras act scandalised. That is not to say that there are no pitfalls: . . .
Paradoxically, the most successful explorations of the subject keep things witty and urbane. Dan Zeff's cautionary tale Sweetnightgoodheart observes David Tennant's attempts to ditch his girlfriend (Kate Ashfield) spiral out of control." - The Sunday Times - Critics Choice - March 23 2003 - Victoria Segal
"The painful and often farcical circumstances surrounding relationship break-ups are explored in this collection of five short dramas from some of the UK's most talented writer/directors - Dan Zeff, Clara Glynn, Ian Iqbal Rashid, Andrea Arnold and Peter Lydon. The films - Sweetnightgoodheart , Unscrew, Stag, Dog and Dumping Elaine - have all won critical acclaim on the festival circuit, and each examines what happens to individuals at the moment people leave one another. Moving, surreal and viciously funny." - The Guardian - Pick of the Day - March 25, 2003
"Ways to Leave Your Lover (BBC Two) was a collage of five short films about couples breaking up, or trying to break up. Some - Sweetnightgoodheart , starring Kate Ashfield and David Tennant, and written and directed by Dan Zeff; and Dumping Elaine, written and directed by Peter Lydon and starring Susan Lynch and Matthew Delamare -fizzed better within the constraints of a ten-minute slot than did some of the others. But all of these films underlined how much you can achieve in a cleverly distilled, doll's-house-size drama." - The Times - March 26, 2003 - Joe Joseph