David Tennant<\/a>, Little Mix\u2019s Jade Thirlwall and footballer turned pundit Gary Lineker (\u201cDid you shit yourself on the pitch?\u201d was a typically blunt question). The series was Bafta-nominated and won an RTS award. It has since become an international hit, commissioned across 20 countries.<\/p>\nPeople with Down\u2019s syndrome, autism and complex learning disabilities are rarely afforded such screen time \u2013 and in total control too. It makes for quietly revolutionary television. \u201cOur company inbox is full of viewers telling us they\u2019ve got autistic family members and they\u2019re glad to be represented on TV,\u201d says Richards. \u201cVisibility and awareness are important but we knew that would only come if we made the show entertaining. We could make a documentary about the Send [special educational needs and disabilities] community but the sad truth is that nobody would watch it. The Assembly has to be entertaining first and foremost. Ensure it\u2019s universally appealing, then the other stuff follows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur panel is aged 18 to 77 and that spread is important,\u201d says director of production Michelle Singer. \u201cIt brings diversity of life experience, which is all the more pertinent for neurodivergent people due to danger of infantilisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDiversity of views is crucial, too,\u201d says Richards. \u201cWith a show like this, people might say: \u2018Well, that\u2019s woke as shit.\u2019 But our cast span the social class and political spectrum. They\u2019re adults with fully formed opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n
With each passing episode, viewers get to know the regulars. There\u2019s Caroline, who sits next to the celeb, wears a sparkly silver top and asks eye-wateringly personal questions. Jacob handily provides the celebrity\u2019s date of birth and star sign. Luka is the literary one who performed a Wordsworth poem for Fry and a Macbeth soliloquy for Tennant. The Assembly\u2019s house band \u2013 led by vocalist Julice, surely a pop star-in-waiting \u2013 close each show with a rousing cover of a song with special meaning to the guest. They invariably sing and dance along, making for an uplifting climax. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to make an album one day,\u201d says Singer. \u201cThere\u2019s real demand for it!\u201d<\/p>\n
As season two guest Lenny Henry told us: \u201cThe Assembly was genuinely moving for me. On one side of me, a lovely lady was experiencing all the feelings. On the other side, I had the living equivalent of Google, spitting facts about me like Jay-Z in his prime. It was crazy good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s notable how the experience tends to stay with the celebrities,\u201d says Singer. \u201cLots of our interviewees still talk about it passionately. Jade sent individual handwritten cards to each cast member to say thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The Assembly was genuinely moving for me\u2019 \u2026 Lenny Henry. Photograph: Rockerdale studios \/ITV<\/p>\n
The panel\u2019s refreshingly direct questions make for a compellingly unpredictable conversation, which can flip between sad, silly and surreal in a flash. \u201cFundamentally our show is about connection,\u201d says Richards. \u201cOnce you\u2019ve agreed to our rules \u2013 and a lot of celebs won\u2019t, so they don\u2019t come on the show \u2013 it strips away the rules of neurotypical society and something magical happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur recording time is another bit of secret sauce,\u201d adds Singer. \u201cOn a traditional chatshow, you\u2019d get 10 minutes per guest. Our cameras roll for three hours. That gives space for everybody to relax and alchemy to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Assembly elicits remarkable exchanges by asking tough questions in such a charming manner that it\u2019s impossible to dodge or deflect. Unsuspecting subjects are caught off-guard, often left sobbing, laughing or both. There\u2019s no project-plugging nor gushing, just raw authenticity. Yet celebrities visibly relish the chance to do something different. It\u2019s a welcome antidote to stage-managed sofa interviews where the questions are posed largely to tee up a showbiz anecdote.<\/p>\n
Last month, The Assembly returned for a keenly awaited second season. First guest Stephen Fry was asked: \u201cHow much have you spent on cocaine?\u201d \u201cCan you help me meet C\u00e9line Dion?\u201d and, perhaps most memorably, \u201cAre you a top or a bottom?\u201d You don\u2019t get that on The One Show.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsking a national treasure that question was quite something,\u201d laughs Richards. \u201cAt moments like that, we\u2019re in the gallery, going \u2018What\u2019s going to happen? Is the guest going to walk out?\u2019 But Stephen handled it beautifully, which is testament to him. It was scary but exciting. Now I tell the team: \u2018I want to be terrified at least once per recording.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a traditional talkshow, you\u2019re there to sell something,\u201d says Singer. \u201cNobody on The Assembly is touting their wares.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have the element of surprise,\u201d says Richards. \u201cAnything can happen. You have no idea if somebody will ask about a 68-year-old\u2019s sexual proclivities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon became the first politician to brave the hot seat. She was reduced to tears when asked about her miscarriage. \u201cShe also talked about how she has considered being a foster carer,\u201d says Richards. \u201cOur cast member Marcus, who has been through the care system, came up and read his own poem about it. Everyone was welling up, including Marcus and Nicola.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sturgeon described The Assembly as \u201cone of the most special experiences of my life\u201d. She even bonded with panellist Nicola about being namesakes and discussed taking a road trip around Scotland together. \u201cMaybe we\u2019ve got a spin-off here,\u201d joked Sturgeon. \u201cThe two Nicolas do Scotland.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d love to do more politicians,\u201d says Richards. \u201cThe format strips away the soundbites, lays them bare and it humanises them. Keir Starmer is the obvious candidate because his biggest problem is that people don\u2019t see him as a human being. Tony Blair or David Cameron would be fascinating too.\u201d Who else is on the wishlist? \u201cHugh Grant is my perennial,\u201d says Singer. \u201cWe\u2019ll keep trying!\u201d Richards says \u201cEric Cantona, Michelle Obama and the pope,\u201d only half joking.<\/p>\n
It takes a certain courage for A-listers to sign up. \u201cSome PR or agents get nervous,\u201d says Richards. \u201cThey probably see some reputational value of being on The Assembly but won\u2019t take the risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral celebs have told us during the buildup to recording that they\u2019re \u2018shitting themselves,\u2019\u201d says Singer. \u201cHow can you fail to be slightly intimidated by the prospect of 28 strangers asking you literally anything? Embracing that and going with it delivers the best TV.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third series is yet to be confirmed but is surely in the pipeline. In the meantime, The Assembly\u2019s true stars are embracing their newfound cult following. \u201cAt the TV Baftas, properly famous people were approaching our cast members for selfies,\u201d says Singer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know Harry, who always wears a hat?\u201d asks Richards. \u201cHe\u2019s a massive Whovian and Matt Smith recognised him. An actual Timelord came over for a chat. That\u2019s the level we\u2019re at now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Assembly airs 24 May at 10pm on ITV1 and ITVX. This will be followed by two compilations of unseen moments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As TV presenter Rylan Clark trepidatiously arrives for his appearance on The Assembly, he\u2019s heard wondering aloud: \u201cShit,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":["post-464912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}