Before We Die - Press Pack

When Detective Inspector Hannah Laing (Lesley Sharp) kisses her married lover Sean Hardacre (Bill Ward) goodbye one morning, she never imagines it will be the last time she will see her fellow detective alive. But Sean goes missing and his brutalised corpse is recovered the following day.

Determined to find whoever is responsible for killing him, Hannah accesses one of Sean’s confidential contacts and persuades ‘Issy’ to help her unpick the tangled threads of Sean’s investigation into the Mimicas  a tight-knit family who left Croatia for Bristol and now run a successful restaurant, where Christian (Patrick Gibson), Hannah’s son now works. But under the guidance of the ruthless eldest son, Davor (Toni Gojanović), the family are ambitious to expand their criminal activities, which risks stretching family bonds to breaking point. The Mimicas closeness as a family provides a painful contrast to Hannah’s fractured, dysfunctional relationship with her own son.

Forced to operate undercover for fear of a criminal informer at Police HQ, Hannah and her sceptical new partner, Billy Murdoch (Vincent Regan), uncover a daring plot by the Mimicas to smuggle an enormous quantity of cocaine into the country. When Hannah also discovers Issy’s identity, however, she quickly realises there is far more at stake than bringing Sean’s killers to justice.

Before We Die is a breathless crime thriller, full of heart-stopping jeopardy and unpredictable twists. It is adapted from the hit Swedish series of the same name and stars Lesley Sharp as Hannah, Patrick Gibson as her son Christian, Vince Regan as Billy and Croatian actor, Tony Gojanovic, as Davor, the boss of the Mimica crime family.

The cast also stars Issy Knopfler as Bianca Mimica, Rebecca Scroggs as Tina Carter, Steve Toussaint as Leonard Kane, Kazia Pelka as Dubravka Mimica, Petar Cvirn as Stefan Vargic and Ryszard Turbiasz as Zvonomir Mimica.

The series is produced by Eagle Eye Drama in association with Caviar and is supported by Screen Flanders, DPG Media and the Belgian tax shelter via Caviar Film Financing. PBS Distribution holds the North American rights and ZDF Enterprises will distribute the series worldwide.

Before We Die starts Wednesday 26 May at 9pm on Channel 4. All episodes will be available on All 4 after transmission of episode 1.