‘Suspect’: James Nesbitt, Joely Richardson, Richard E. Grant, Anne-Marie Duff, Antonia Thomas, Niamh Algar, Ben Miller, Sacha Dhawan, and Sam Heughan.
Channel 4 has announced an epic cast lineup for the upcoming eight-part crime thriller ‘Suspect’ (working title) from Eagle Eye Drama (‘Before We Die’, ‘Professor T’).
Adapted from the original Danish series ‘Forhøret’ by Christoffer Boe and Miso Film, the drama featured a prestigious cast of the UK’s best acting talent including James Nesbitt (‘Bloodlands’, ‘Cold Feet’), Joely Richardson (‘The Tudors’, ‘Nip/Tuck’), Anne-Marie Duff (‘Sex Education’, ‘Shameless’), Richard E. Grant (‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’, ‘Loki’), Ben Miller (‘Professor T’, ‘Bridgerton’), Niamh Algar (‘Deceit’, ‘Censor’), Antonia Thomas (‘The Good Doctor’, ‘Small Axe’), Sacha Dhawan (‘The Great’, ‘Doctor Who’), Sam Heughan (‘Outlander’, ‘Party Animals’) and Imogen King (‘Clique’, ‘Hotel Portofino’).
When veteran detective, Danny Frater (Nesbitt), turns up at a hospital mortuary for what he thinks is a routine ID check on a young woman’s body, he gets a devastating shock; the corpse turns out to be his estranged daughter, Christina (King). Danny is traumatized by the news that according to the post-mortem report, she’s taken her own life. Danny and Christina had a complicated father-daughter relationship in recent years, but he refuses to accept that she would have ended her own life. He sets out on a mission for the truth, retracing her last days and hours, in an agonising crusade to discover what really happened to his only child.
Through a series of intense exchanges with those closest to Christina – her partner, Nicola (Algar), her best friend, Maia (Thomas), her business partner, Jaisal (Dhawan), her godfather, Ryan (Heughan), her mentor, Harry (Grant) and finally her mother, Susannah and Danny’s ex-wife (Duff) – Danny learns about his daughter’s descent into delinquency. He is forced to confront his own failings as a father whilst struggling to make sense of a mass of contradictory testimony and circumstantial evidence, and he must decide who, if anyone, is responsible for Christina’s death and what he’s going to do about it.
Also appearing in the series is Jackie (Richardson), the pathologist who carries out the post-mortem on Christina’s body and Richard (Miller) Danny’s Detective Superintendent boss.
“I could relate to Danny, with his flaws, vulnerabilities and the devastating situation he faces, from the very first moment I picked up the script,” commented James Nesbitt. “Each episode of Suspect (w/t) is an intensely theatrical double-hander, a psychological battle of wits between Danny and another character who may know something about his daughter’s untimely death, and I really can’t wait to lock horns with my fellow cast members and to lead this incredible array of acting talent.”
‘Suspect’ (w/t) follows on from the success of ‘Before We Die’, Eagle Eye’s first production which aired earlier this year on Channel 4 and has become the sixth biggest first-run series on All 4. The series is distributed worldwide by Fremantle.
“Suspect (w/t) has a distinctive narrative architecture which is both incredibly intimate and very intense, which represents an exciting challenge for any actor and I’m sure that’s one of the reasons we have attracted such a high calibre, talented cast,” adds Jo McGrath, Executive Producer and CCO of Eagle Eye Drama.
Commissioned by Channel 4 Head of Drama, Caroline Hollick and Commissioning Editor, Gemma Boswell, the series will be directed by Dries Vos (Professor T) and produced by Ed King (‘His House’) and has been written and adapted by Matt Baker (‘Before We Die’, ‘Professor T’). ‘Suspect’ (w/t) will film this autumn with Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino as Executive Producers.
“I am absolutely delighted to welcome James Nesbitt back to Channel 4 to take the lead in this gripping, visceral thriller,” adds Channel 4 Head of Drama, Caroline Hollick, who commissioned the series. “It’s a testament to James’ star power and Matt’s gripping scripts that Suspect (w/t) has attracted such a sensationally stellar ensemble cast.”
‘Suspect’ (working title) does not yet have a premiere date on Channel 4, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
