Mother of all dramas
Emily Watson and Denise Gough play mums with deep secrets in psychological thriller
The latest thriller to hit our screens promises to leave viewers waiting with bated breath for each instalment. Featuring Chernobyl’s Emily Watson and double Olivier Award-winner Denise Gough in a gripping psychological dance, Too Close is based on the book by actress Clara Salaman (written under the pseudonym Natalie Daniels).
Forensic psychologist Dr Emma Robertson (Watson) must assess a high-profile and charismatic suspect who is awaiting trial. Dubbed the “yummy mummy monster”, Connie (Gough) is charged with the attempted murders of her own daughter and the child of her best friend, Ness.
The series opens with Connie, looking distressed, sitting in her car with the girls. Cogs whir behind her eyes as she stares into nothingness and before the viewer has time to work out what’s going on, the car speeds off the edge of a bridge and into the watery void below.
Later, Connie claims she is suffering from amnesia and has no recollection of the incident.
But it’s Emma’s job to help her remember what happened and to discover the truth, she must peel back the layers and break through Connie’s bravado. But that’s no easy task.
Having lost her own daughter, the psychologist’s personal life becomes fair game for her curious and perceptive patient.
Emily said: “Connie senses that Emma has a secret straight away. When Emma first encounters her she’s incredibly antagonistic, aggressive and actually quite scary.
“But it soon becomes apparent that, in another life, these women would have been friends.
“They have a similar sensibility and just as Emma is trying to open Connie up, Connie is digging away at her too.”
Secrets are well and truly at the heart of this story.
Denise said: “They’re like treats. You don’t want to give everything away at once because then the viewer misses out on the joy of the journey.
“What I love is that in each episode you’re given these little treats so that by the end it’s really satisfying.”
It’s fair to say that the subject matter of a mother completely breaking down and attempting to kill her child is no light topic.
In fact, writer Clara describes the three-part series as “a suburban Medea story”. She said: “This is about being a mother and how you utterly lose yourself from the moment of conception. It’s about how this ultimate act of creativity turns into the ultimate act of self-destruction and culminates in a mother trying to kill the thing she’s spent her life creating.”
When asked what she feels about Connie’s character, Denise said: “I love it. I get energised by it. I find it easier onstage because you’re spat out at the end and the audience breaks the spell but I don’t find myself collapsing in my life when I play a part like this. I feel fantastic – if not slightly more fragile – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Emily added: “It’s a relief actually. You can really tell whether you’re getting it right or not because it either feels real or it doesn’t. To me, comedy or something lighter is much scarier because it doesn’t have that certainty.”
As the two women engage in a series of intense interviews, the focus shifts from past to present, filling in the spaces of the story. However, the mysteries just keep on coming. How could a bohemian ray of sunshine become so broken, so crumpled and so hostile? And what happened to Emma’s daughter? Why can’t Emma’s husband bear to say their child’s name?
Throughout the series it’s unclear who the audience should support.
But as our allegiances switch between characters, one thought remains – what really happened?
‘It’s about being a mother. This ultimate act of creativity turns into the ultimate act of selfdestruction’ Clara Salaman