Gemma Whelan leads gritty crime drama The Tower
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Gemma Whelan leads gritty crime drama The Tower
The last few years have undoubtedly seen a huge increase in homegrown British television dramas. From Killing Eve to Bodyguard, the BBC may appear to be reign supreme, but their direct competitor, ITV, are certainly no strangers to producing compelling dramas themselves.
Joanne Froggatt is currently starring in new domestic abuse thriller from the makers of The Missing and Liar in Angela Black, and Gentleman Jack star Gemma Whelan leads ambitious new crime drama The Tower, adapted by Homeland writer and executive producer Patrick Harbinson. The three-parter is based on Post Mortem, the first in Kate London’s Metropolitan series of novels featuring Sarah Collins and rookie cop Lizzie Griffiths. More below.
Maxine Peake will play heroic Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams in Anne, the mother who tirelessly campaigned for two decades for justice for son, Kevin, and others who were unlawfully killed during the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989.
With all these incredible dramas to wade through, we don't really mind the fact it's getting colder outside...
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1) The Tower
Release date: November 2021
Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan will star as Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins in ITV's The Tower, adapted by Homeland writer and executive producer Patrick Harbinson.
The three-parter is based on Post Mortem, the first in Kate London’s Metropolitan series of novels featuring Sarah Collins and rookie cop Lizzie Griffiths.
ITV's synopsis reads: 'In The Tower’s breath-taking opening sequence, a veteran beat cop and a teenage girl fall to their deaths from a tower block in south-east London. Left alive on the roof are a five-year-old boy and rookie police officer Lizzie Adama.
'Within hours, Lizzie has disappeared, and Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins is charged with leading the investigation. She not only has to track down Lizzie before she comes to serious harm, but also to uncover the truth behind the grisly deaths. What chain of events took two police officers and two children to the roof of that tower block - why did two of them die? Why did two of them survive?'
The cast also includes Tahirah Sharif as cop Lizzie Adama, Emmett J. Scanlan as police inspector Kieran Shaw, Jimmy Akingbola as DC Steve Bradshaw, Nick Holder as PC Hadley Matthews and Lola Elsokari as Farah.
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2) Anne
TBC: 2022
Maxine Peake will play heroic Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams, who campaigned for two decades for justice for son, Kevin, and others who were unlawfully killed during the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989.
ITV's synopsis reads: 'Refusing to accept the Coroner’s original verdict of accidental death, Anne was determined to unearth the truth about what happened at Hillsborough. She sought out new medical opinions, tracked down witnesses who had tried to revive Kevin on the pitch and lobbied ministers for new inquests.
'At times to the cost of her own family and health, Anne stood defiant for over 20 years alongside the parents and relatives who fought to prove that their loved ones had been unlawfully killed at a football match.'
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3) Angela Black
Release date TBC
Joanne Froggatt is set to appear in new 'Hitchcockian' thriller, Angela Black. The six-part series comes from the writers of The Missing and Liar (in which Froggatt also stars) and is currently filming in London now, although no release date has been announced yet.
Froggatt plays Angela, a suburban housewife whose seemingly perfect life with husband Olivier (played by Michiel Huisman) isn’t all it appears to be.
After she’s approached by Ed, a private investigator who claims to know her husband’s darkest secrets, Angela must decide whether to risk all she knows to finally be free.ITV - 5/8
4) Honour
Catch up on ITV Hub now
Bodyguard star (and this month's Red cover star) Keeley Hawes is back on screens as Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode in this two-part drama about the ‘honour killing’ of 20-year-old Banaz Mahmod in 2006.
Having discovered that the recently murdered woman had been to the police five times to report threats from members of her own family, DCI Goode vowed that she would not rest until she gets justice for her.
If you haven't watched this compelling drama yet, you can catch up on both episodes on ITV Hub now, and read our cover interview with Keeley Hawes in the November issue of Red Magazine - out now!
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5) Des
Catch up now on ITV Hub
David Tennant takes the lead role in this chilling three-part true crime drama, which focuses on one of the most infamous criminal cases in UK history.
Referred to as the ‘kindly killer’, Dennis Nilsen was a civil servant who spent five years murdering boys and young men from 1978 to 1983. He would meet and befriend these men before offering food or lodgings for the evening back at his North London flat.
Daniel Mays plays the detective, DCI Peter Jay, who brought Nilsen to justice, with Justin Watkins as writer and Nilsen’s biographer, Brian Masters.
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6) The Singapore Grip
Catch up on ITV Hub now
The Singapore Grip is a six-part drama adapted from JG Farrell’s satirical novel of the same name, starring Luke Treadaway, David Morrissey and Charles Dance.
The series - which has been adapted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Atonement and Dangerous Liaisons) - is set in World War II, and tells the story of a British family living in 1940s Singapore at the time of the Japanese invasion, who find their trading company under threat.
Treadaway plays ‘reluctant hero and innocent abroad’ protagonist Matthew Webb, while Morrissey stars as ‘ruthless rubber merchant’ Walter Blackett - head of British Singapore’s oldest and most powerful firm. Dance plays Blackett’s business partner Mr Webb.
Catch up on all six episodes of this stylish drama on ITV Hub now.
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7) Karen Pirie
Release date: TBC
Adapted from Val McDermid's book The Distant Echo, Karen Pirie is the first in a series of cold case novels that's being brought to the small screen in a series for ITV.
The story follows a young Scottish detective working in St. Andrews, who's tasked with reopening cold cases. The first involves the 25-year-old death of a teenager whose unsolved murder has become the subject of a true crime podcast.
The series was originally announced in February 2020, with filming set to take place over the following months, but due to the pandemic this has likely been delayed, so watch this space for more info over the coming months!
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