“It’s more overtly political than the film was – but I think that’s the right choice, given where we’re at as a society and as a country”: Andrew Chaplin and Wim Snape on The Full Monty

Back in 1997, a bunch of unemployed Sheffield-based steel workers preparing to take their kit off for extra cash caught the imagination of audiences the world over (that dole queue scene set to Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff remains iconic to this day). Now The Full Monty crew are back – but is life in the Northern city in 2023 any better than in post-Thatcher Britain? That’s the question centrally posed by the new Disney+ series. And it’s probably not much of a spoiler to say: no. In fact, it’s worse. As was achieved with understated panache in the low-budget original movie, there’s a political undercurrent to this underdog story, which nevertheless is told with huge heart and plenty of hilarity. 

The likes of Mark Addy, Tom Wilkinson and the always-excellent Robert Carlyle return to their beloved characters to see how they might be navigating life in the modern world, where public services are crumbling and their grasp of political correctness is somewhat behind the times. New characters also join the fold, such as Destiny (Gaz’s daughter, played by Talitha Wing), bringing new relationship dynamics and emotional beats to the humorous capers of these working-class heroes.

The Upcoming caught up with Wim Snape, who played Gaz’s son Nathan 25 years ago, and is now – much to Gaz’s chagrin – a police officer. The actor spoke about what it meant to him to land a role in the original film as a young lad, how it felt for the whole cast to be reunited for the first time, and how they approached returning to the themes and humour of the movie in a contemporary series.

We also chatted with Andrew Chaplin about coming onboard to direct the show, what struck a chord with him about the 1997 movie and how he approached bringing that same balance of humour and humanity to the eight-part series.

Sarah Bradbury

The Full Monty is released on Disney+ on 14^th June 2023.

Watch the trailer for The Full Monty here: