The Insider Richard Gere is back on the Beeb; plus what’s on our radar, and Screen News

It’s been a while since Richard Gere appeared in a TV series: quite a while in fact. e year was 1976 and the young American actor was lucky enough to land a small role on the hit US detective series, Kojak. e following year, Gere was cast in the movie Looking For Mr Goodbar, opposite Diane Keaton; the success of which lead to him securing the lead role in Days of Heaven (1978). e rest is history.

is week, the 69-year-old actor returns to the small screen to play the lead role in MotherFatherSon. Written by Tom Rob Smith (London Spy), this new eight-part drama boasts an impressive ensemble. Helen McCrory, Billy Howle and Sarah Lancashire all have key roles, while the supporting cast includes the likes of Sineád Cusack and Niamh Algar. “I’m so pleased to be working on this extraordinary eight-hour project with such talented people,” says Gere. “It resonates so much to the time we live in.”

e story revolves around Max (Gere), a charismatic, self-made American businessman with media outlets in London and around the world. His aristocratic ex-wife Kathryn (McCrory) has been frozen out of the family and now spends her days working at a homeless shelter. Meanwhile, their 20-year-old son, Caden (Billy Howle), is at the heart of Max’s operation, running the broadsheet newspaper e Nati onal Reporter - but he’s out of his depth and the strain is showing. When Caden’s self-destructive lifestyle eventually spirals out of control, the devastating consequences threaten the future of the family, its business empire, and a country on the brink of change. MotherFatherSon has all the hallmarks of a cracking good drama.