Frank (and Paul) go to Hollywood

When Paul Abbott learnt that the first series of his award-winning drama Shameless had been commissioned by Channel 4, he concluded that he "would do six or seven episodes and then get sent to jail". The story, he said yesterday, was "a polarised extreme. The [commissioning editors] were meant to hate it."

Four years on, Abbott's exposition of the life of the dysfunctional Gallagher family travelled beyond his wildest expectations yesterday, as Channel 4 opened a permanent Shameless set to house a 16-episode fifth series - double the length of the others. Abbott also revealed that Woody Harrelson, the Emmy-award winner who played Woody Boyd in Cheers, is set to play the father of the family, Frank Gallagher, in a US version.

America is about to become well acquainted with Abbott. As John Wells, award-winning producer of ER and The West Wing, works on the US Shameless for NBC, casting is also under way for a Hollywood version of the writer's six-part political thriller State of Play. Brad Pitt is already lined up for the part of the journalist played by John Simm in the 2003 TV series and Bill Nighy, who played editor Cameron Foster, has also accepted a part.

Abbott's current concern, however, is how to imbue the new, lengthier run of Shameless, which won a Bafta in 2005, with the same energy as previous series. "In British drama quite often when things get expanded there's ... dilution," Abbott said. "In [programmes such as] Holby, The Bill and Casualty stories are stretched out. You seem to be getting four hours of drama in 22 episodes. A show like this, running at an epileptic frenzy, just can't afford to do that. The imperative has to be that we make Shameless better and better."

Abbott's use of West Gorton, a deprived district of east Manchester, as the Gallaghers' native Chatsworth estate, has embodied the drama's quest for working-class realism. On occasions, passing residents have been hauled in as extras to convey a sense of the place. But the demands of the 16-episode run have persuaded its producers to build replicas of the district's pebbledash and timber-clad terraces and recreate Frank's beloved boozer The Jockey (previously West Gorton's Wellington) at a gated, three-acre site in nearby Wythenshawe. West Gorton is also due to be regenerated, which won't help the creative effect.

Although Abbott has felt uneasy about the perceived profligacy of the "64 wagons" which pull into West Gorton for filming - particularly the food wagon, the departure from a district Abbott considers even rougher than his native Burnley will not sanitise the drama, he said. "We were only ever there for a few hours, clearing an area, filming and leaving," he said. "It wasn't as if we were in the middle of life there."

Celebrities are now queuing up for roles in a series whose audience has continually grown, to three million for the last series. But Abbott has resisted approaches from Matt Lucas, Simm and Nighy, among others. "We've never needed well-known faces to sell it," he said. "From episode one, everyone starring in it was below the radar."

In the US, the challenge will be how to convey the spirit of Shameless without contravening the censorship laws in place for networked shows. "If you cross the line of vulgar or dangerous, you won't get the next episode," said Abbott.

But if all else fails, work is under way on a sequel to State of Play, Abbott having scrapped an initial effort after two-and-a-half episodes. The prospect of Simm and Nighy teaming up again seems good. "We all want to do it again," said Abbott. "The only restriction is people's time. Most of the the cast from the first series are bigger names now."