Playing Nice stars explain how realistic birth-switching drama really is
"It's more common than you think."
ITV is kicking off the new year with Playing Nice, a tense new drama about two couples who find out their toddlers were switched at birth.
"At first, it seems all four are agreed on a solution, but it soon becomes clear that hidden motives are at play," reads the official synopsis.
But just how realistic is the story, which was adapted from the JP Delaney novel of the same name?
"It's more common than you think," said James McArdle.
"There was a case like two weeks ago where two women found out – they were much older, they were adults – but they found out that they had been swapped and they had led totally different lives," said James Norton.
"And there was another case where they had been switched and one of them had gone into an incredibly wealthy family and ended up a head of industry, and the other guy had ended up living a much more humble life.
"So yes, basically it happens more than you'd think."
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"Living a waking nightmare, Pete (Norton) and Maddie (Niamh Algar) are jettisoned into the world of the other couple, Miles (McArdle) and Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay)," continues the synopsis.
"How far can each couple trust the real parents of their child – or even each other? As Pete and Maddie are stretched to breaking point, they realise they will stop at nothing to keep their family together."
Norton went on to discuss the particular guidelines around switching children back, which is a reality both couples are forced to consider as tensions mount.
"What's really interesting about the guidelines around this, child psychologists have suggested that kids under two-and-a-half should be switched back, and kids older than three should stay where they are, because it's too psychologically damaging for them to be ripped out their family; it's around the two-and-a-half, three mark where it's very unclear as to what to do with the children.
"So we intentionally wanted to make sure our kids [in the drama] were just turning three so that the doctors and advisors didn't really know what to do."
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Playing Nice will air on ITV1 on Sunday 5th January at 9pm, with subsequent episodes airing on Monday and Sunday in the same timeslot.
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Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
