Anna Friel and Lee Pace ('Pushing Daisies')

Bringing the dead back to life is not an unfamiliar conceit for a drama, but new US series Pushing Daisies offers a refreshingly unique - and often surreal - twist. Part romance, part comedy and part mystery, the show revolves around humble pie-maker Ned (Lee Pace), a man blessed with the ability to revive the dead with a single touch. Among those he gives the finger to is childhood sweetheart Chuck (Anna Friel), cruelly bumped off before her time. Lee and Anna tell us why it's a premise packed with potential.

What's the show all about?
Lee Pace: "Well I play Ned, who touches dead things and brings them back to life, but if they live for more than a minute, something else will die. And if I touch them a second time, they die again forever. In the first episode I bring Chuck, my childhood sweetheart, back to life and a comedy ensues."
Anna Friel: "It's quite essentially a comedy with drama. It's incredibly romantic and a show where anything could happen. It's visually stunning and its production values are so high. Each episode costs $3.2 million and we have 11 days to shoot it. The biggest challenge after making such a big pilot is how to keep it up every week. I think we've proved everybody wrong, not wanting to sound big-headed."

As you said, Ned and Chuck can never touch each other. Do you think that will always be true or could there be some plot device to get around it?
Lee Pace: "I think the audience would be cheated if they could touch. You know, such as if all they have to do is just cross their fingers."
Anna Friel: "I've got an idea: giant body condoms!"
Lee Pace: "I think the 'no touching' thing is really sexy. It's the longest foreplay ever! We have to look into each other's eyes and feel the love without jumping into bed together. I think it's a nice idea."
Anna Friel: "We're going back to the days of the old black-and-white movies where there's nothing more than a kiss at the end of the film and the audience were totally satisfied."

Now Chuck has been brought back to life, does she age?
Anna Friel: "You're smart. That's a good question and no-one's really got that. When you're brought back, you're brought back at your absolute latest. Chuck will not age; she will stay exactly how she was when she was brought back to life. She eats, she lives a completely and utterly normal life, except she won't get older. That's going to be hard to maintain if we get to season five. I'm going to have to start looking after myself incredibly well!"

How does the relationship between the pair develop over the season?
Anna Friel: "In episode nine, the last one we made before the [writers'] strike prevented us from making any more, you're left with several cliffhangers. All is not looking rosy for Ned and Chuck. Chuck is not very happy at all!"

A key part of the show is pies. What are your favourite pies?
Lee Pace: "I like a regular apple pie but Ned can't eat the pies on the show."
Anna Friel: "He'd get a mouthful of rotten fruit, because obviously he's touched the dead fruit and brought it back to life, so as soon as he eats the pie he is chewing on mush. As for me, I'm a running joke on the set because they're like 'What does Anna want? Fish pie? That's hideous!' I'm a big pie lover."

The show has been a big hit in the US, but how do you think the British audience will take to the show?
Anna Friel: "They'd better like it! The whole of America loves it and I don't understand why the [Brits] wouldn't like it. England is my home country and it's marvellous to be bringing it back here. It's a big, bold thing for ITV to buy a show like this."

Pushing Daisies airs Saturday nights on ITV1.