Having hosted some excellent shows in its time, including Sherlock and Doctor Who, BBC One is getting ready to welcome another show to its channel: new crime drama, Sherwood.
L-R: David Morrissey, Leslie Manville, Robert Glenister / Picture Credit: BBC/House Productions/Matt Squire
Crime dramas are in abundance nowadays, but Sherwood, from the mind of James Graham, promises to be not only unique, but a significant series to be watched by everyone.
Inspired, in parts, by real events and set in Nottinghamshire, Sherwood is a drama which contains two unnerving and unexpected killings at its centre. The crimes destroy a community already on the edge, and a sizable manhunt is deployed.
The deaths begin strain relationships within the village; neighbours wonder whether to be weary of those who live next door, and the police who show up are also in question as to whether or not they can be trusted.
History rears its head as the murders threaten to divide the village, just as the Miner’s Strike did three decades before.
Sherwood, is set to examine the harder-to-swallow aspects of Britain, such as the controversial deployment of ‘spycops’ in the UK, and the story of a community forced to look back on events that ruined them, and still shows the scars of the events that occurred decades ago.
The six-part series will also be looking at the anxiety and worry that flows angrily between communities on the edge of civilisation, and the police force and how that affects both sides of the coin.
This new crime drama will be picking apart the most important and concerning fractures and relationships that exists in modern British society.
David Morrissey has been cast as Detective Chief Superintendent Ian St Clair, who has spent most of his life in the service of the Nottingham constabulary, rising through the ranks.
He is a sympathetic yet formidable man, suggesting that staying on his good side is in anyone’s best interests.
When tasked with searching for a link between the two murders, he is forced to work with an old rival from the Metropolitan Police, whose comeback to the village creates unrest and a chance to break the community that is already close to snapping.
St Clair’s rival is Detective Inspector Kevin Salisbury (Robert Glenister), who would rather be anywhere than Ashfield. Reminders of the horrific events from 1984 are everywhere, and he knows he won’t be getting a warm welcome from any residents, or even the local police.
Despite his flaws, Salisbury has integrity and is keen to stick to the job he has been given, so it seems his unwelcome presence will be felt all the way through the series.
Alun Armstrong will be playing Gary Jackson in the upcoming series, a miner from Ashfield on the picket line in the 80s; and he will not let anyone forget that.
This inability to let go of the past not only marginalises him from his neighbours, but his wife Julie (Leslie Manville), too. She is, however, as stubborn as her husband and is intensely proud of the loving household she has created for her family.
Other cast members include Phillip Jackson, Lorraine Ashbourne, Perry Fitzpatrick, Claire Rushbrook, Kevin Doyle, Adam Hugill and more.
While it’s unknown when the series will air, we can be sure that Sherwood will be on everyone’s watch list once it’s released.
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
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Tagged in BBC David Morrissey