Downton Abbey‘s Sue Johnston has been praised for being the “beating heart” of BBC’s upcoming sitcom Ann Droid, which is set to debut on Friday 17 July.
At a press screening ahead of the series’ launch, co-creator and co-star Diane Johnson (who plays humanoid robot Linda) told Digital Spy and other journalists that the comedy started out as just “a really funny idea”, adding: “Then we got Sue on board and she gave it a beating heart.”
“Ann Droid is a comedy about Sue, a grieving widow, and Linda, her outdated care robot who gets things very wrong and causes chaos while also teaching Sue how to love life again,” reads the synopsis.
It continues: “In a world where AI is looming larger and ever present, Ann Droid asks the question: what is replaceable and what is not? As funny as it is poignant, Ann Droid tells the story of an unlikely friendship between Sue (Sue Johnston) and Linda (Diane Morgan), a social humanoid robot created to keep elderly people company and monitor their health.”
Speaking about Linda and Sue’s relationship in the series, Sue said: “I understood how Sue started having an affection for her… Diane bought me a robot cat at the end of the shoot… It purrs and it meows and it answers its name and its heart beats and it sits.
“I sit – and the dog looks askance at me. I sit with this thing on my knee and I apologise to it if I leave it downstairs. [I think], ‘What are you doing?'”
In a press release, Morgan shared how she got the idea for the show from a news article, saying: “I read a story in the paper which said that apparently they were rolling [robots] out in Japan, and I told Pippa my producer and we started laughing about it.
“It was also inspired by the time in lockdown when I decided to send my mum a tablet so she could do online shopping – she reacted like I’d sent her a nail bomb.”
When asked what what drew her to the role and of her experience of working on the series, Johnston told Digital Spy and other journalists: “It was a joy of a shoot. The script was so lovely and I love the idea. It made me laugh and it does make you think.
“I’m at the age where you do start thinking, not a lot, but it does cross your mind that you fall over and you’ll have to be looked after.”
Morgan added: “[The story] bleeds into all those things. Grief and loneliness, your parents ageing and technology. There’s all this stuff that people can relate to hopefully.”
Ann Droid debuts on Friday 17 July at 9.30pm on One and airs weekly. The full series will also be available on BBC iPlayer at 6am the same day.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
