.Drama
The Children Monday 01 September
9:00pm - 10:00pm
ITV1 London
1/3
There are eerie echoes of the real-life murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins in Lucy Gannon's new three-part ITV1 thriller, when a child is found murdered on the patio of her family home and those that are supposed to care for her come under suspicion. But this is more than just a murder mystery. Gannon casts her net wide to look at how children can get lost in marital break-ups and how moving on to new loves can make adults selfish. Kevin Whately is a headmaster who's dumped his wife (Lesley Sharp) to move in with a younger woman (Geraldine Somerville) and her small daughter. But, caught between his mother's anger and his father's preoccupation with his new family, Whately's teenage son falls through the cracks. As you would expect with the accomplished Gannon at the helm, The Children is a taut, chilling, almost ruthlessly involving story. Told in flashback from the moment the child's body is found, the awfulness of the death is both horribly real and very visceral.
RT reviewer - Alison Graham
VIDEO Plus+: 3826
Subtitled, Widescreen, Audio-described
Cast
Cameron - Kevin Whately
Sue - Geraldine Somerville
Emily - Sinead Michael
Sheila - Francine Morgan
Mary - Georgia Henshaw
Jack - Freddie Boath
Anne - Lesley Sharp
Nicky - Rachael Elizabeth
Kelly - Amy Beth Hayes
Polly - Anna Madeley
Paul - Ian Puleston-Davies
Natasha - Kate Ashfield
Peter - Owen Teale
Becca - Sadhbha Bolger
PC Cardigan - Pascale Burgess
PC Rook - Simon Trinder
PC Yearsley - Karen Bryson
Primary teacher - Regina Freedman
Radio producer - Paul Ireland