WW L L INTERVIEW
AN INTERVIEW WITH VICKY McCLURE
From Line of Duty favourite to Our Dementia Choir founder, Vicky McClure is known for bringing people together— and her latest project, Day Fever, does exactly that. Co-created with husband Jonny Owen, it’ s the feel-good daytime disco that’ s sweeping the country: classic tunes, glitter, nostalgia, and no 3am taxi queues.
BY WARREN HIGGINS AND MARIE FITZSIMMONS
You captivated the world with Line of Duty; did you ever think it would end up the most watched TV drama? When it started, we had no idea what a hit it would become, not in a million years. There’ s nobody at the top telling you‘ we’ re going to make sure this is a success.’ It’ s the audience who decides that, and that’ s what I love about it. The finale of Line of Duty series six drew a record-breaking 12.8 million overnight viewers on BBC One, this made it the most-watched drama on UK television since modern records began in 2002!
You won a Bafta before you were famous! At the age of 14 I was accepted by the Italia Conti School in London and was a year later cast by Shane Meadow as the title characters sister in a comedy drama called‘ A room for Romeo Brass’. I left school at 16 working in various shops and then was cast by Shane again in This is England film and mini series. I was in between filming for This is England and working a desk job when I was cast and starred in a film produced by Madonna called Filth and Wisdom. It was very surreal as I was on Madonna’ s private jet one day and my desk the day after! I won both the Royal Television Society Award and BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress for my portrayal of Lol in This is England ' 86. What I loved about winning that BAFTA is that no one knew me at all, I never expected it, I just felt really proud that I’ d even been considered.
You also done a two part documentary My Dementia Choir? I can safely say the choir and their loved ones have changed my life. What’ s more, they have changed many lives across the UK, stretching to other countries around the world! Everyone involved in the choir, past and present, choir members and loved ones, have shown enormous strength and honesty in allowing us to document their lives and very much prove ways in which you can live well with dementia whilst not shying away from the difficulties it can bring.
You have a new DJ career now! How did Day Fever come about? Well, it was born from a WhatsApp chat! Jonny just said,‘ A daytime disco, how good would that be? We’ re all a bit nuts, so we just said, come on then! We just wanted Day Fever to bring affordable, joy-filled clubbing into the daylight hours. The first one sold out in two seconds. We did Nottingham, then Sheffield, then Merthyr and Cardiff and it just flew from there. Now it sees people of all ages, literally from their 20s to their 70s, letting loose on packed dancefloors. We’ ve had Jon’ s mum sneak in a bottle of gin and stash it in a bush outside in Cardiff, that’ s the vibe! Bit of mischief loads of laughs, and not a bit of trouble, and it’ s that warmth, spontaneity, and inclusiveness that keeps people coming back.
It really does interest all ages! It’ s mothers and daughters, friends reconnecting, people on chemo, people grieving. These are your nurses, your cleaners, your teachers. These are the people keeping the world spinning and now they’ ve got somewhere to let go and feel joy. Running from 3pm to 8pm, Day Fever offers the perfect balance: a proper night out that doesn’ t wreck your weekend. There’ s no dress code, no pressure, and the hangover is optional; just wall-to-wall feelgood tunes and an open invitation to dance like nobody’ s watching!
What type of music are you playing at Day Fever? Hits across the generations, regional pride plays a part too. Manchester goes mad for Oasis, Nottingham’ s got its favourites, and we make sure to tap into that local energy, it’ s about community, about people being together. The music is taken very seriously. There’ s a loose structure, a bit of Northern Soul to kick off, disco, 80s bangers, 90s dance, a singalong, maybe some indie.... but we always have Whitney, it’ s the law!
We are looking forward to attending, sounds like a great night! If Day Fever feels like a family party, that’ s because... it kind of is. Jonny and I are married, Jon’ s wife DJs, his brother Chris and childhood friend Jamie are involved. Even Jonny’ s daughter Katie’ s behind the decks! It’ s one big gang, and when people come through the doors, they’ re part of it too. I love dancing on the stage with partygoers, selfies and smiles flying everywhere. When people realise we’ re just there to have fun too, that we’ re not up on a pedestal, they really get into it, and I mean, come on, when do you get to go clubbing with your mum?!
Has there been an outcry to take this on the road to other countries? We’ ve had offers to take Day Fever abroad, but we’ re being really careful, It’ s only 18 months old, it feels like a decade, but we want to make sure we look after what we’ ve built. We recently held our own Day Fever festival at Nottingham’ s Arboretum that took place on the 23rd of August. We’ ve got loads of ideas, but for now, we’ re just enjoying this moment. It’ s simple, and it works. We are looking forward to being back on the road in October and November but were really looking forward to Sleigh Fever in December.
Sleigh Fever?! Well, this October and November we are keeping the momentum going across the UK and we have just announced and rebranded as Sleigh Fever! It is set to light up December with a festive twist, shaping up to be the biggest and brightest season yet for our Day Fever family. We see it as a run of special Christmas editions that promise all the usual joy, dancing and daftness, sprinkled with extra sparkle, singalongs and seasonal surprises. You can expect glitter, Santa hats, Mariah moments, and maybe even a mince pie or two on the dancefloor! As Jon put it: It’ s like a wedding party where everyone actually wants to be there, only this time, Santa’ s invited too.
How do you guys find the time! Well, I’ ve recently finished filming series 3 of Trigger Point which returns to ITV1 at 9pm on Sunday 26th October 2025,( I’ m hoping you are all going to tune in to watch), but even when I have been busy filming or Jon touring with Reverend and The Makers, we all miss our Day Fever raving!
Forthcoming Event Dates: 8th November 2025- Camp & Furnace Liverpool 20th December 2025- Camp & Furnace, Liverpool 20th December 2025- Manchester New Century Hall
Tickets are available at day-fever. com
Follow DAY FEVER on Facebook, Instagram and X @ DAYFEVERUK
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