ITV’s Flesh and Blood director explains why the location has an important meaning

From Good Housekeeping

Our obsession with TV crime drama shows no sign of slowing down, and ITV is adding another thrilling series to the broad range of choice within the genre, in the form of Flesh and Blood.

“Flesh and Blood is the modern story of three adult siblings - Helen (Claudie Blakley), Jake (Russell Tovey) and Natalie (Lydia Leonard) - who are thrown into disarray when their recently widowed mother Vivien (Francesca Annis) declares she's in love with a new man,” according to ITV.

“This is no ordinary relationship drama, as someone in the family will be dead by the end of the story - but the question of who dies and who is the killer keeps us guessing right up to the last moment,” the channel added.

While whodunnits are commonplace on our screens nowadays, Flesh and Blood has a unique feel that makes it stand out from the crowd, namely due to the fact that the action takes place mostly in one remote location.

“There’s lots of crime dramas really anchored in location and clues but this is something that could be a bit more heightened so that’s what I jumped off in terms of tone,” director Louise Hooper (Cheat), explained to Good Housekeeping and other press at a screening for the series.

The show’s leads Mary (Imelda Staunton) and Vivien (Francesca Annis) live next door to each other on a beautiful shingle coast.

“I wanted it to be like a modern parable, you’ve got the sea - which you’ve got no control over - you’ve got the shingle and the two houses. A bit like a theatre stage, you’ve got the characters that come into that. There’s no town or city, we’re not anchored to anything so it floats in its own little heightened story… We’re trying to do something different from the gritty, monochromatic noir which is very plot and detail driven. It’s something which is light and funny and joyful I hope,” Louise explained.

While the show does feature a mysterious death that keeps fans guessing, Louise isn’t the only person involved in the project who describes it as lighter viewing.

Explaining why she took on the part of Vivien, Francesca Annis said:

“I liked that this wasn’t an angst-stricken part – I’ve played quite a few of those. I loved the script and when I met Louise and Sarah [Williams, writer] and it was very much going to be a female-driven project I thought that was just wonderful. Louise promised she would be very open to suggestion and empowering and that’s exactly what she was. I thought that made the whole project for me quite an exciting adventure.”

With season one yet to air, questions are already being raised about a potential follow-up series.

“I could [see myself revisiting the family],” Sarah Williams said.

“Without explaining too much of what happens, there is further meat on the bone. I love these characters and I did get very attached to all of them. I would love to follow on their story, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves, we have to see if anyone watches this,” she added.

Flesh and Blood will air on ITV.

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