Description
Fifty Fathoms for Channel 4
Hayley Squires plays leading British pornstar Jolene Dollar in Lucy Kirkwood’s new drama Adult Material. Juggling on-set glamour and motherhood at home, Jolene is a poster girl for the industry; respected, aspirational, happy. Through her eyes we see a world that isn’t driven by exploitation, but by opportunity for working class women. The hours are good, and the money is great, if you can lie back and think of England.
But the internet has caused a revolution in porn. Any kid with a selfie stick can make it now and these days everyone wants it for free. Producers like Jolene’s old friend and colleague Carroll (played by Rupert Everett) have seen changes to technology and the market that have forced them to push boundaries further than they’ve ever pushed them before, in search of the erotic, the bizarre, the funny, the disturbing, and most of all the new. In short, something you can get punters to pay for.
Jolene’s journey begins when she learns Carroll intends to collaborate with Tom Pain, an American Porn legend who dwells in the very darkest, grimmest corner of the industry, and an old adversary of Jolene’s. Her outrage grows when new girl Amy (Siena Kelly) is grotesquely injured on her first day’s filming, and Jolene is stunned to learn that instead of calling the doctor, Carroll went in for a close up.
In seeking justice for Amy, Jolene will find herself taking on the largest porn company on the internet, taking a wrecking ball to her own life, and unravelling everything she thought she knew about herself and the industry that has been like a family to her for her entire adult life.
Adult Material is a story that asks vital questions about the cultural crisis we face in how we distinguish fantasy and reality in our media, our political systems and our private lives; but with the irresistible Jolene Dollar at the heart of it, it is a hugely entertaining, moving, outrageous, and human debate.
Awards:
- International Emmy Awards 2021 - Winner of Best Performance By An Actress (Hayley Squires)