Doctor Who's Mandip Gill will star in a romantic comedy film with a twist
Her new role is worlds away from adventures in time and space.
Doctor Who's Mandip Gill will star in an interactive romantic comedy which is set to begin filming remotely from next week.
Written during the coronavirus lockdown, Five Dates follows in the footsteps of Netflix's Black Mirror: Bandersnatch by allowing viewers to choose which direction the story goes in.
Deadline reports that the plot follows Vinny, a London millennial who joins a dating app for the first time in the hopes of striking up some lockdown romance, going on virtual dates with five different women.
In a choose-your-own-adventure story for the pandemic age, viewers will be able to choose how he behaves on these dates and the story will branch off in different directions accordingly.
Putting together a sprawling story such as this is no small task, as demonstrated by the huge 350-page tome written for Five Dates (an average movie script is between 95 and 125 pages long).
Gill has joined a cast that also includes Georgia Hirst (Vikings), Marisa Abela (Cobra), Taheen Modak (Van der Valk), and singer-songwriter Sinéad Harnett.
Following social distancing guidelines, the cast will film their scenes remotely themselves starting from next Wednesday, using iPhones and sound equipment sent to them by the producers.
The new comedy comes from Good Gate Media and will be made available to purchase on gaming platforms by Wales Interactive, including Playstation 4, Xbox One and Steam.
They previously collaborated on The Complex, another interactive film in which two scientists deal with the aftermath of a bio-weapon attack on London.
Five Dates is the latest production to be filmed and written during the pandemic, after ITV drama Isolation Stories and BBC One comedy Staged starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen.
If you're looking for something to watch, check out our TV Guide.
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.