Sidse Babett Knudsen, Mark Lewis Jones, Joanna Scanlan, Genevieve Barr join Sarah Lancashire in The Light (w/t)

21 June 2019

The Light (w/t), set in the fictional town of Glyngolau and currently filming entirely on location in Wales, explores a forgotten community devastated by disaster. An explosion on the construction site of a much-needed and sought-after regeneration project in this “left-behind” town claims the lives of many children who have broken into the building site to make mischief. As grief gives way to anger the community finds itself forced to confront difficult truths amid the search for justice.

BAFTA and RTS-winner Sarah Lancashire (Kiri, Happy Valley) plays Polly Bevan the wife of the local politician who championed the project and the person to whom the community turns following the disaster. Councillor Iwan Bevan, her husband, played by Mark Lewis Jones (National Treasure, Keeping Faith), loves his home town and is a respected figurehead for the community. He was passionate about restoring the town to its former glory, but at what cost...?

Behind closed doors Iwan and Polly’s relationship is more complicated than outward appearances suggest, made even more so by the fact that their rebellious teenage daughter Leona, played by newcomer Jade Croot (Casualty), does all she can to aggravate her father. But when Leona suffers life-changing injuries as a result of the accident on her father’s site, the family finds itself tested to the limits.

BAFTA-winner and Emmy-nominee Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen, Westworld) plays Harriet Paulsen, the executive at Kallbridge Developments which has overseen the project in Glyngolau. On hearing the news of the disaster, Harriet immediately heads to the site but finds herself the focus of raw grief and anger. She’s tough with a ruthless streak but her desire for self-preservation and to protect the business she’s helped build comes into sharp conflict with her compulsion to do the right thing. Her Executive Assistant at Kallbridge is Tim, played by Nabhaan Rizwan (Informer, 1917). Tim is smart and eager, but his good sense may be clouded by his desire to protect Harriet at all costs.

While the search for the truth behind these events unfolds, the community seeks strength in each other. Polly relies on her oldest friends, like her, born and raised in Glyngolau. Angela Griffiths is played by BAFTA-nominated and RTS-winner Joanna Scanlan (No Offence, Getting On) and single parent Greta is played by BAFTA Cymru Award-winner Eiry Thomas (Keeping Faith, Rillington Place). Both have lost daughters in the accident. The women’s grief begins to turn to fury and a demand for action and justice. Who is to blame?

Debbie Kethin’s life, played by Genevieve Barr (The Silence, Press), is also shattered by events. She must wrestle with the fact that Alan, her husband, was responsible for site security and that the disaster, which also took his life, happened on his watch.

An outsider in town, Martin Harris, played by Shaun Parkes (Line of Duty, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies) finds himself at the centre of events in Glyngolau. After rescuing Leona from the wreckage of the collapsed building, he and Polly find in each other someone they can truly trust. He’s not the only outsider, as Philip Walters, played by Adrian Scarborough (Gosford Park, Killing Eve), is drawn to Glyngolau after the disaster. He circles the community in the aftermath of the explosion, asking questions and probing for details about what happened. Who is he, what’s his agenda, and should the community place their trust in his action plan for justice? As the stakes rise for all concerned, and as each side looks to see how the law can best serve their needs, Laura, played by Ruth Madeley (The Rook, Years and Years, Don’t Take My Baby), is hired by Kallbridge to serve as Harriet’s counsel.

The Light (w/t) aims to explore the nexus between blame, revenge and justice, and explores the contentious question of responsibility - social, corporate and personal – that the accident gives rise to.

The Light (w/t) is written by award-winning theatre, film and television screenwriter Jack Thorne.

The Light (w/t) 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 series is written by Jack Thorne (National Treasure, Kiri, The Virtues and This is England ’86, ’88, ’90)

The Light (4 X ‘60) has Chloe Tucker as Commissioning Executive for Channel 4 and is overseen by Caroline Hollick, Head of Drama at Channel 4. The series will be produced by The Forge, in association with Hulu in the US 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.

The Forge’s production credits include Bafta-winning National Treasure (C4/Hulu) and RTS-nominated Kiri (C4/Hulu), both written by Jack Thorne; RTS-nominated series Ackley Bridge (C4); Peter Moffat’s The Last Post (BBC1/Amazon) (co-produced with Bonafide Films); John Brownlow’s adaptation of Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist (BBC1/WGBH); David Hare’s Collateral (BBC2/Netflix) and the forthcoming Dark Money by Levi David Addai (BBC1).

All3media International will handle global sales.

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Jack Thorne’s television work, for which he has been awarded 5 BAFTAs, includes supernatural thriller The Fades (BBC3), state of the nation dramas National Treasure and Kiri (C4), pan-European crime thriller The Last Panthers (Sky and Canal+) and collaborations with Shane Meadows on This is England ’86, '88 and ’90 (Channel 4) and The Virtues (C4). His upcoming work includes an adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy (BBC) and Jazz age musical, The Eddy, directed by Damian Chazelle (Netflix). For theatre, Jack has written for The Royal Court, including an adaptation of Let the Right One In (2013) and original plays Hope (2014) and The End of History (2019), and the National Theatre, for whom he wrote The Solid Life of Sugar Water (2015). For London’s West End Jack has written the award-winning Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016) which has since transferred to Broadway. In film, Jack’s original screenplays include The Scouting Book for Boys (2009) and War Book (2014). He also adapted Nick Hornby’s hit novel A Long Way Down (2014) and Stephen Chbosky’s novel Wonder (2017). His upcoming films include Dirt Music, adapted from the novel by Tim Winton, Radioactive, the story of Marie and Pierre Curie, and action adventure Aeronauts, starring Eddie Jones and directed by Tom Harper.