#METOO IS SUCH A COMPLICATED TOPIC TO COVER, ESPECIALLY IN A COMEDY. WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST DEBATES THAT CAME UP?
SC: The big thing for me, the premise of the whole series, was how does romance thrive in a post-#MeToo environment? Let's tell a story about two people who are in the midst of this new landscape, who fall in love with each other whilst negotiating these things. Maybe then the question will answer itself.
SS: When you have proper conversations about consent, you're actually opening up opportunity for more sex and more pleasure because it's a proper dialogue where women's needs and women's pleasure is taken into consideration.
WHAT DOES COMEDY AND HUMOUR ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT PURE DRAMA DOESN'T?
SC: In terms of the comedy, we were very careful about it. Once you know how you can find these comedic moments, when you become confident with it, it's knowing when not to do a joke, not to employ comedy when you know you could. To have the guts to be sincere sometimes, which is not an intuitive thing, certainly for me.
SS: It makes it harder, because you have to do both. You have to keep it suspenseful but you've got to find the humour and give the audience permission to relax.
#MeToo is a universal confession of trauma and pain, and we don't want to undermine that. We wanted to shine a light on that, and at the same time let some of the tension out.
YOU BOTH LIVE IN THIS WORLD, BUT WHAT DID YOU DO IN TERMS OF RESEARCH AND PREPARATION?
SC: We do live in this world, so we're aware of what's going on in terms of the media and discussions and new protocols, we're aware of all that.
Being in the industry means it's not a huge leap to put yourself in a slightly different place, it was just taking things that you sometimes feel and amplifying them, adding some extra things to make it complex and provocative.
There's definitely a Venn diagram where our characters overlap with who we are.
SS: It's less about research, but more about exploration of our journeys, because Steve and I have had such different journeys and different challenges.
I was really relieved when he would ask not just difficult questions for the show, but difficult questions of himself.
THE FIRST TWO EPISODES ARE SET IN HOLLYWOOD: DID IT HAVE TO BE SET IN THE STATES?
SS: Hollywood is such a heightened, extreme place, and there's a reason the #MeToo movement started here. So it felt like a natural base for it, but it was very important to us that it didn't feel like an in-joke.
Actually, any public-facing business has to deal with these issues, so it can be any workplace where you're juggling this new, chaotic landscape where what you say can sometimes feel policed. Hopefully people will relate to it, even if they don't have any knowledge of Hollywood.
WHAT DID YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?
SC: Writing with Sarah was just like spending time with a friend every day. That's what was enjoyable: just writing with Sarah and feeling safe to explore things that I would not have felt safe doing alone.
SS: He really makes me laugh: he'd send me a text, or make a joke on a session and I will be laughing for days afterwards. And also getting an insight into an incredible life and incredible career - that is fascinating.
::Chivalry airs on Channel 4 at 10pm on Thursday April 21.
