Run cast announcement

22 June 2012

Olivia Colman and Katie Leung lead cast of brand new drama serial Run

Multi award-winning actress Olivia Colman (Rev, Tyrannosaur, Peep Show) and Katie Leung (Harry Potter, Wild Swans) head the cast of Channel 4's latest contemporary drama serial, currently filming in and around London.

Run is an original four-part drama which weaves together the stories of four seemingly unconnected people who are facing life-changing decisions in a world where there is little choice and survival is never a given. 

"Channel 4 has a proud history of developing new drama talent both on and off screen and we are delighted to be continuing in that tradition with Run, a beautifully authored and original series about a strand of British life rarely seen on our screens" says Sophie Gardiner, Commissioning Editor.

 

Each episode tells the stories of:

Carol (Olivia Colman), a stoical, resilient, kind but tough single parent striving to keep her family together despite the constant trials and tribulations presented by her teenage sons Dean and Terry. Carol inhabits a world where low-level crime is part of the everyday struggle to survive. But petty theft and the odd bit of dealing are one thing; murder is quite another.

Ying (Katie Leung) is an illegal Chinese immigrant who sells pirate DVDs and stolen phones on the streets of Brixton in hope of making a life for herself in the UK. But first she must pay her debts to the Snakehead gang who smuggled her into Britain. When an immigration raid leaves her with no friends, no home and no money, an unlikely love story begins which could offer Ying a way out.

Richard (tbc) is a middle-aged ex-heroin addict who is struggling to stay clean so that he can re-establish contact with his teenage daughter Sabrina. As events seem to conspire against him, Richard is torn between the world of drug addiction and the harder path to salvage the only relationship that matters to him.

Katrina (tbc) is a young Polish woman who discovers her husband, Tomack, has been killed in a vicious attack.  Alone for the first time in a world Tomack had always negotiated for her, Katrina struggles to find the strength to survive.  And perhaps to run.

 

Poignant and dynamic, honest and witty, Run is a series of fast-paced narratives which paint a rich and compelling picture of modern-day life directed by Bafta-nominated Charles Martin (Skins, Being Human, Wallander) and first-time drama director Jonathan Pearson, produced by Chris Carey (Dirk Gently, This Is Jinsy).

Created and written by newcomers Marlon Smith and Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan, Run also features an ensemble cast of exciting new talent, brought together through an extensive grass roots audition process.  Run is the debut drama commission for new indie Acme, owned by Executive Producer Jaimie D'Cruz (Oscar-nominated for Exit Through the Gift Shop) and Francesca Newby.