Drama to challenge 'teeth and tans' stereotype

(From left to right) Tom the builder, Jake Erland, Tommy Davis, Jude Moore, Sonny Green and Alex Hayman

A group of millennial filmmakers are looking to challenge Essex's "teeth and tans" stereotype with an authentic working-class comedy-drama.

Cash in Hand - created by and starring people from across the county - aims to "document the essence" of Essex, "the real graft, the real chaos and the real heart".

The team has decided to crowdfund for a pilot episode to pitch to commissioners rather than presenting a script, in an effort to retain creative control.

It has passed £5,000 in donations so far.

Rayleigh-based director Tommy Davis, 28, believes there is a "massive vacancy" of working class stories in UK television.

Actor Sonny Green, 30, from Southend-on-Sea, also said: "I think it was worse years ago, growing up, when certain shows did come up, and I felt like the whole of Essex got kind of blanketed into one type of person."

On set, Jude Moore is playing "Lips" and Sonny Green is playing "Kush"

Mr Davis said he fell back in love with his home county when he returned from travelling.

"I was reconnecting with family spending a lot of time with the colourful whimsical people that were around Essex and I just felt there was a need to document the essence that we don't see or haven't seen on television, the real graft, the real chaos and the real heart of people that live in Essex," he said.

"I grew up around lads that are like the people featured in the script who are full of chat, chasing dreams with empty pockets and have no real plan B.

"We want to bottle that spirit before it gets flattened and rebranded as progress, basically."

He said the only similar example he could think of was the BBC drama White Gold, which was set in 1980s Basildon.

Sonny Green is a car boot sale dealer who claims to have the biggest second-hand shop in the county

Cast member Mr Green is also a prolific car boot sale dealer, and previously told the BBC that Essex was full of "cheeky chappies" and wheeler dealers".

He said a lot of the Essex dramas had been London-centric and comparable to "the end of the Central Line".

"I don't think we've necessarily seen a lot of the Southends, the Rayleighs, the Basildons, the Canvey Islands... the other parts of Essex, I feel like we've had a lot of kind of Loughton and Buckhurst Hill and Brentwood, but when we get deeper in you see a different story," he said.

Producer Kit Patrick, 30, was born and raised in Wandsworth and said Essex had a definite identity to it.

"There's a way in which people treat one another there, and I think that was really beautiful to see," he said.

"It was really important that we keep as firm a grip on the creative drive and as firm a grip on the authenticity of the show... [it] gives us the best chance of holding on to those ideals and to that truth."