A new thriller on ITV is set to focus on a crime wave sweeping the nation – and will star a 90s acting legend as he makes a comeback on the channel.
Out There will depict the impact of country lines drug dealing on the British countryside, as farmers and crime bosses clash over precious land used to support two very contrasting lifestyles.
Martin Clunes will star as a grieving farmer confronted with dark forces seeping into his rural community, as urban gangs use British countryside as a field of operations, moving drugs and money between their inner-city hubs and provincial areas.
Written by commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill, the six-part drama will premiere on ITV1 and be available to stream on ITVX, with filming currently taking place in Wales and being produced in association with Creative Wales.
The series is executive produced and written by Ed Whitmore and Marc Evans, who were behind Martin’s previous role as a police officer in the gritty drama Manhunt.
Gritty drama: 90s comedy legend Martin Clunes will star as a grieving farmer confronted with dark forces seeping into his rural community in the new ITV drama Out There
According to ITV, Clunes has said of his new role: ‘I’m very happy to be working with Marc Evans and Ed Whitmore again after the success of Manhunt.
Out There couldn’t be more different from Doc Martin. It’s pretty dark, but definitely a story worth telling.’
Clunes will play farmer Nathan Williams, a man who runs a farm which has been in his family for generations, who has been mourning the death of his wife, Sabine, for two years.
Caught in a numbing rhythm of work while being a single parent to teenager Johnny, played by Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Nathan suddenly finds himself having to change his approach to life when gangs that threaten to engulf his son.
Consequently, he embarks on a personal journey that will take him even further out of his comfort zone into a dark alternative world, as he fights to protect his family, his livelihood and his legacy.
Nathan must accept that the rustic atmosphere of his childhood is long gone, replaced by something altogether more edgy and perilous – with the only way for the town hero to survive in the rural underworld is to learn the rules and fight back.
ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill said: ‘Out There is a brilliantly compelling drama, from the team behind Manhunt, where county lines become very real for a father and son already dealing with the modern challenges of running a farm.
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‘Martin Clunes is wonderful as Nathan, in a drama full of surprises, as he tries to navigate the best way to save his son, in a world he doesn’t understand.’
Legendary: The 90s comedy legend starred as socially challenged doctor Martin Ellingham in iconic ITV comedy-drama Doc Martin, which aired for almost two decades
Welsh Director Marc Evans has said of the the series’ filming location: ‘We are thrilled to have the support of Creative Wales to produce Out There in my in my home country.
‘We are able to explore beautiful and rarely seen areas around the Black Mountains and to use local talent for our cast and crew.’
Amongst the actors also featuring in Out There are Mark Lewis Jones as Caleb Williams, Natalia Kostrzewa as Eva, Carly-Sophia Davies as Sadie and Gerran Howell as Rhys.
Executive producer of the series Ed Whitmore said: ‘County lines is a particularly vicious and ruthless wave of drug dealing that uses fear and violence to coerce, often vulnerable, young people into working as runners and dealers.
It has become a serious and rapidly increasing problem across the whole of the UK, so it felt like an important and timely story to tell.
Take two: Out There is executive produced and written by Ed Whitmore and Marc Evans, who were behind Martin’s previous role as a police officer in the gritty drama Manhunt
He added: I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of things being hidden in plain sight and the way in which different social worlds can co-exist cheek-by-jowl until, one day, they collide.
The fundamental premise of Out There – a widowed farmer who discovers that his son has fallen foul of county lines – immediately spoke to me as a story I wanted to tell.’
This comes after the ITV have recently commissioned a popular TV show that is being revived after a five-year hiatus.
The Big Brother reboot – which will air on ITV2 this autumn – ‘will be a hit’ according to bosses at the channel who have confidently secured another series already.
It will be presented by AJ Odudu and Will Best after a five-year hiatus as fans are hotly-anticipating its return.
