You & Me writer on working with "mentor" Russell T Davies

In You & Me, Davis is joined by BAFTA-winning Tom Vaughan (Doctor Foster, Screw) as director, and Dominic Treadwell-Collins (EastEnders) and Russell T Davies (It’s a Sin, Doctor Who) as executive producers.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com about working alongside the acclaimed Queer as Folk writer, Jamie Davis said that the prospect was initially "terrifying".

He explained: "I wrote the script and I thought, ‘If I could send it to anyone, who would I send it to?’ and I thought of Russell because he’s the best. But I’d worked with Russell as an actor, maybe like eight or nine years ago – we had no real relationship to speak of.

"So I sent him this email that said, ‘Look, I know it’s highly unlikely at the time to read this but if I don’t send it, it’s impossible. So I’m going to choose highly unlikely over impossible and send it.’

"So I sent it and I think two weeks later, it was a Friday night, it was like 5 or 6, I was on a train with both my kids on my lap and I thought I’d check my emails then I’ll be done for the week.

"Then I had this email from Russell that I will never forget, I’ve still got it saved on my phone. I kept reading it, thinking there was going to be a ‘but’ in a minute but there wasn’t and he said we should meet."

When asked about the process of working together, Davis revealed: “I think the best thing about working with Russell is that he makes you better – by the things that he teaches you, but also having him as a mentor now that even when I write other things, I know he's going to read it.

"Even when he’s not with me, he's on my shoulder sort of saying to me, 'That’s not funny enough' or 'That's not good enough’, ‘That’s not quick enough’. That’s the greatest gift he could’ve ever given me, so the whole relationship with him and having him as my mentor has been a dream come true."

He continued: “The thing about working with someone like him, is that he’s not afraid to say to me at any notes session, ‘Do you think that’s funny? I don’t.’ But that’s good because then when he says, ‘I think this really works’ or ‘I think this is funny’ or ‘This is really moving’, then that’s what heaven feels like.

"That grace from so high really means something to you and it gives you something to aim for. He was incredibly involved, incredibly generous with his time.”

The new series is told over two separate timelines and slowly reveals the tragedies that have shaped Ben, Emma and Jess, played by Harry Lawtey (Industry, The Pale Blue Eye), Jessica Barden (The End of the F***ing World, Pieces of Her) and Sophia Brown (The Witcher: Blood Origin, Giri/Haji) respectively.

It deals with love in all forms but mainly, about what happens when someone is offered a second chance at love.

Read more:

• Russell T Davies on "comfort" of Doctor Who return after his husband's death
• Russell T Davies: Nolly is “revenge” for losing out on Crossroads job

Speaking to RadioTimes.com about the series, Davis said: “I wrote this at a time in my life when things were going really well for me. And I sort of catastrophised that and thought, ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen?’

"Then you’ve got a story about whether anyone can ever come back from that and find love again. Because that’s what this is – it’s a love story.

"More than that, I think it’s a story about love between a boy and a girl, a parent, a child, a girl and her sister – it’s about what that love costs you because I think that all love costs you something and you don’t want to lose it."

You & Me is available to watch now on ITVX. Check out more of our Drama coverage or find out what's on with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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