Sarah Lancashire leads the cast in Jack Thorne’s The Light (w/t)

30 January 2019

BAFTA and RTS Award-winner Sarah Lancashire (Kiri, Happy Valley) reunites with Jack Thorne in his brand new 4-part series The Light (w/t).

 

In a community that has been left behind, a large construction project offers hope for a better future; regeneration, and much needed employment. But an explosion, followed by a catastrophic collapse, leaves many dead, children included, and the community devastated.

The story centres on Polly, played by Lancashire, the wife of the local politician who championed the project.  Their rebellious daughter, Leona, had led a group of friends who broke onto the site on the day of the explosion, but now is left with a lifelong disability after the disaster.

As communal grief gives way to a torrent of anger and blame, the community finds itself torn apart. Unwilling accept that their children were to blame, the families cry for justice.

It falls to Polly to hold the community together, and to face the challenging truths that begin to emerge.

Like Kiri and National Treasure, the drama will look at how the media spotlight in the wake of such a disaster can affect a community. If National Treasure was about shame and Kiri was about blame, The Light (w/t) will be about justice, as a forgotten town searches for truth in the aftermath of a tragedy.            

Sarah Lancashire says: “This is the most wonderful opportunity to work with Channel 4, The Forge, and Jack Thorne’s masterly writing once again. The Light is a fiercely powerful piece; shocking and emotive and I feel extremely privileged to be a part of it”.

Jack Thorne says: “I'm so excited to be working with Sarah again. I always try and resist writing for specific actors, for fear of heartbreak, but I couldn't keep Sarah out of my thoughts as I wrote this and I'm so delighted she was prepared to work with us again. She makes the worst lines sound good, and the slightly better lines sound amazing, and everything has such raw brave truth to it, basically she makes me a better writer, one of the many reasons why she's one of the greatest actors in the country. I have no doubt she will be the most sensational Polly.”

The Light (w/t) follows the hugely successful series National Treasure and Kiri.  National Treasure won both BAFTA and RTS awards for best miniseries, and consolidated viewing figures make Kiri Channel 4’s most-watched drama since modern records began, with an average of nearly 5 million viewers and an audience share of 18.7%. It is also the biggest ever drama series on All 4.  

The Light (w/t) will is directed by Sandra Goldbacher (Ordeal by Innocence, Anne with an E, The Hour) and the producer is Morenike Williams (Killing Eve 2, Delicious). George Ormond (National Treasure, Ackley Bridge, Kiri, Great Expectations) and George Faber (Shameless, National Treasure, The Devil’s Whore, Skins, Kiri) are Executive Producers.

The Light (4 X ‘60) has Jonny Richards and Chloe Tucker as Commissioning Executives for Channel 4 and will be overseen by Caroline Hollick, Head of Drama at Channel 4. The series will be produced by The Forge, in association with Hulu in the U.S. Following success in the US, Peabody Award-winning National Treasure and National Treasure: Kiri, The Light (w/t) will also premiere exclusively in the US as part of Hulu’s award-winning original slate. all3media International is The Forge’s international partner on The Light and will handle its global sales. The Forge’s production credits include National Treasure (C4/Hulu) and Kiri (C4/Hulu), both written by Jack Thorne; Ackley Bridge (C4); The Last Post (BBC1/Amazon), written by Peter Moffat (co-produced with Bonafide Films); The Miniaturist (BBC1/WGBH), written by John Brownlow Collateral (BBC2/Netflix) from writer David Hare and the forthcoming Dark Money by Levi David Addai for BBC1. 

The Light (w/t) is written by Jack Thorne, whose previous credits include National Treasure and Kiri (Channel 4) Glue (E4), The Fades (BBC3), This is England ‘86, ’88, ’90 (Channel 4) and The Last Panthers (Sky). He has also written Hope and Let the Right One In for The Royal Court Theatre as well as the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for London’s West End and The Solid Life of Sugar Water for the National Theatre.