DIGGING UP THE PAST
CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON AND CONNIE NIELSEN STAR IN TENSE NEW THRILLER CLOSE TO ME. TRICIA MARTIN FINDS OUT MORE
AS Close To Me begins, Jo (Connie Nielsen) wakes in a pool of blood at the bottom of her stairs.
She is horrified to learn that the brain trauma she’s sustained has caused her to forget the past year of her life.
Then, a disturbing flashback leads her to question exactly what went on in the months she lost.
And as she struggles to piece her life together with the help of her husband Rob (Christopher Eccleston), Jo fears that maybe her family are keeping secrets from her.
And where does her best friend Cathy (Susan Lynch) fit into the jigsaw?
Close to Me is a big-budget sixpart psychological thriller based on the novel of the same name by Amanda Reynolds.
The book was her debut and went on to become a huge success, so it should have come as no surprise when the TV rights were snapped up.
Jo and Rob are the married couple at the heart of the story. They appear to have everything – two kids, a loving marriage and a beautiful home in the country. But that changes after Jo’s fall.
While piecing together what happened in those lost months she begins to suspect there were big cracks in her supposedly perfect life – and that somebody close to her is hiding a terrible secret.
Connie is perhaps best known for her roles in such hit movies as Gladiator, Wonder Woman and its sequel, Wonder Woman 1984; she also acts as one of Close to Me’s executive producers. Leanne Best and Ray Fearon are also among the supporting cast.
“There’s a lot of interest in identity these days. How do we know who we are? In that sense, Jo has temporary brain trauma and she’s mirrored by her father, who has dementia,” says the Danish actress.
This isn’t just the story of an accident. It’s also about the menopause, and what it does to women and the loved ones watching them navigate this life change.
It was the idea of the man caring for a woman that appealed most to Christopher Eccleston.
The former Doctor Who actor says: “Rob realises that his role is to try and aid his life partner in a physical and emotional recovery, but also support her going through menopause.
“Jo is having identity issues which are, according to my female friends, very common in late middle age. Now Jo needs Rob in a way she hasn’t before, and that gives him a strength.”
“Control is definitely an issue and that causes tension with his wife, their friends and the children,” admits Chris.
“If there was a sense of emasculation, pre-accident, perhaps it’s an opportunity, dysfunctionally, for him to reassert traditional masculine/feminine roles.”
Close to Me starts tonight on Channel 4, at 9pm