Chernobyl’s Emily Watson is to front a psychological thriller for British broadcaster ITV.
The British actor is starring in Too Close, a mini-series from Snowed-In Productions, the sister company of Bronte Film and Television, which produces J.K Rowling dramas including The Casual Vacancy and Strike, in association with All3Media International.
Written by actress and author, Clara Salaman, the three-part drama is based on the novel of the same title under the pseudonym Natalie Daniels.
Watson plays a forensic psychiatrist assigned to work with a woman accused of a heinous crime but who claims she can’t remember a thing. It is the story of how two women become dangerously close when fate forces them together.
Dedicated forensic psychiatrist, Dr Emma Robinson is not easily shocked. She’s worked with her fair share of high security patients. Then she’s sent to assess Connie for trial. Connie has a searing insight into Emma’s deepest insecurities and starts to brutally exploit them. Their sessions become a complex psychological game with confusing undercurrents. Can Emma find out what happened on the night of the crime? Or what happened to turn Connie into a monster? She tries to understand Connie, and her complicated relationship with her beautiful best friend, Ness, which seems to have made her snap. But as Emma tries to uncover the truth behind the madness and learn what triggered Connie’s despicable behavior, it seems that her attempts to see justice done may destroy her instead.
Snowed-In’s Head of Drama, Ruth Kenley-Letts will executive produce, while All3Media International will handle global sales.
Ruth Kenley-Letts said, “Working with Clara Salaman on this adaption of her novel has been a joy. She is a bright new talent to screenwriting and it is a testament to her writing that Emily Watson, one of our finest and most accomplished actors, has signed up to play the part of Emma. Clara’s scripts are consistently gripping, with three compelling and brilliantly realised women at their heart. I can’t wait to work with Polly Hill and ITV to bring them to life.”
ITV Head of Drama Polly Hill, who commissioned the series, added, “Too Close is a brilliant script where you are never sure who has the power – the psychologist or her patient, or whether Connie is the monster she’s portrayed as. I’m delighted that Emily Watson is going to play Emma, who will be phenomenal and I’m looking forward to working with Ruth Kenley-Letts and the team at Snowed-In Productions to bring this fantastic adaptation to ITV.”
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