This was the most open and honest interview I've ever given...

SOMETIMES a TV show comes along that makes you sob, smile and feel just a little bit more optimistic about the world, and The Assembly is one of those shows.

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Last year Welsh actor Michael Sheen, 56, appeared on the BBC pilot, where he was brilliantly grilled by a room of 35 interviewers who were all autistic, neurodivergent and/or learning disabled.

The Damned United and Good Omens star answered questions that cut right to the quick: about what it was like to date someone only five years older than his daughter, the impact [Welsh poet] Dylan Thomas had on him, what it’s like being turned down for roles, and which two members of the royal family he'd swap out.

It was beautiful, insightful, powerfully uplifting television, with a few musical numbers thrown in for added joyfulness, and as a result, it caused more than a few tears from viewers at home.

Since that pilot, broadcast for Autism Acceptance Week 2024, The Assembly - adapted from the French series Les Rencontres du Papotin - has moved to ITV for a full series. First to take on the interrogators is EastEnders and Rivals star Danny Dyer.

‘The 47-year-old Bafta-nominated Londoner says it was “a moving experience” answering The Assembly’s questioners.

“I'm quite naturally an emotional person anyway; I'm very sensitive.

“I'd been doing a lot of press because [filming took place] around the time of the release of my film, Marching Powder, so I was getting really bored of my own voice, but this revitalised me somewhat,’ says Danny. “It got me excited about being interviewed again.”

Doctor Who and Broadchurch actor David Tennant will appear in episode two of The Assembly, and there are future episodes featuring footballing and sports pundit Gary Lineker and Little Mix member and now solo singer Jade Thirlwall, to look forward to.