Welcome to a nightmare
ITV 9pm NEXT OF KIN
PIRATES of the Caribbean star Jack Davenport and The Good Wife actress Archie Panjabi play a couple in turmoil in this gripping thriller.
Instantly tense, the first scenes are bit like the beginning of a Casualty episode – everybody is exceptionally cheery so you know something terrible is about to happen. A family is gathering to welcome the return of their relative from Lahore in Pakistan.
Kareem has been working as a surgeon for a medical charity and is racing for his flight home, where his mum is busy cooking up a feast and putting up balloons.
Archie plays GP Mona Harcourt, Kareem’s sister, who encounters a London terror attack on her way to the welcome home party.
And so the sense of impending doom escalates.
Davenport plays Mona’s political lobbyist husband Guy, and it’s clear the pair have a loving relationship.
But family life is soon shattered by one event, which in turn springs open a Pandora’s Box of troubles and secrets.
Mona’s family find themselves under suspicion, each drawn deeply into a tangle of betrayal and conspiracy as they try to protect their loved ones and their careers.
And the secrets will surely come between Mona and Guy, too – no marriage is strong enough for TV drama.
By the end of the first episode, and in a true sign of good telly, you will be suspicious of absolutely everyone.