‘The Gathering’: Cast Announced For Channel 4 Drama Including Richard Coyle & Warren Brown
Channel 4 has announced the cast for ‘The Gathering‘, a major new six-part drama produced by award-winning World Productions (Line of Duty, Save Me, Vigil), written by acclaimed writer and director Helen Walsh in her first original script for television.
‘The Gathering’ centres around a violent attack on a teenage girl during a rave on a tidal islet. Set in Merseyside, the drama focuses on a group of teens from disparate backgrounds, each of whom could have committed the crime, along with their parents – who give equal cause for suspicion.
Newcomer Eva Morgan will play Kelly, the victim of the attack, who straddles the very different worlds of two groups of teens. Kelly is an accomplished gymnast, on the pathway to world-class competitions, but at odds with her teammates and their ultra-competitive parents. By contrast, Kelly also rolls with a group of urban free-runners, whose reckless lifestyle and exuberant free-spirit is in conflict with the discipline and restrictions Kelly experiences in the tightly controlled world of competitive sport. This multi-layered story is a drama for our times.
Alongside Morgan as Kelly, Sadie Soverall (Little Bone Lodge) also leads the cast as Jessica, with Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point, The Lazarus Project) as Jessica’s aggressively pushy mother Natalie. Warren Brown (Ten Pound Poms, The Responder) is cast as Kelly’s hard-working single parent Paul, and Richard Coyle (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Then You Run, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as successful solicitor Jules.
The cast will also include Sonny Walker (The Responder) as Adam, and newcomers Luca Kamleh-Chapman as Bazi and Hebron Tedros as Dessie.
‘The Gathering’ interrogates the ways in which today’s parents impose their agendas and issues upon their teenagers. It explores the balance between allowing teens their freedom while ensuring their safety in a world where social media can create fame and notoriety overnight – and cancel it, and our children, at the flick of a thumb. And asks whether it’s responsible to be overly invested in our kids, or irresponsible not to know what they’re up to?
“I’m thrilled to have a brilliant cast on board led by such established talent,” said writer Helen Walsh. “Our young actors, many of whom are newcomers, have wowed us with their raw and heartfelt depictions of teenagers having to navigate adult problems in morally ambiguous worlds.”
The series was commissioned for Channel 4 by Caroline Hollick, Head of Drama, and Gwawr Lloyd, Commissioning Editor, Drama. The executive producers are Simon Heath, Laura Cotton, Helen Walsh and Gareth Bryn for World Productions and the producer is Graham Drover. The director of episodes 1, 2, 5 & 6 will be Gareth Bryn (Line of Duty S6, Karen Pirie). Amanda Blue (Maternal) will direct episodes 3 & 4. World Productions is part of ITV Studios who are handling international distribution.
‘The Gathering‘ does not yet have a UK premiere date, but will air on Channel 4. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
