TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
Emily Watson and Denise Gough dazzle in this compelling new psychological drama
Two mothers in radically different situations find they have something in common in ITV drama Too Close, starring Chernobyl’s Emily Watson and Olivier Award-winning Denise Gough. Based on a novel by Clara Salaman (written under the pseudonym
Natalie Daniels), Too Close is about an uptight forensic psychologist taking on a hostile yet perceptive “yummy mummy monster”, and will have us gripped for three nights this week.
It all begins with Dr Emma Robertson (Watson) being tasked with assessing
Connie (Gough) before her trial for attempted murder. The would-be victims? Her companion Ness’s daughter – and her own daughter.
“This show is about being a mother and how you utterly lose yourself from the moment of conception,” Carla explains. “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.”
As Emma tries to get to the bottom of what went wrong with Connie, she’s forced to confront her own personal trauma. Since losing her own daughter, something has broken in Emma and it’s driven a wedge between herself and her husband. Connie notices that grief – and is all too eager to exploit it.
“Connie senses that Emma has a secret straight away,” explains Emily. “When Emma first encounters her, she’s incredibly aggressive and quite scary, but it soon becomes apparent that, in another life, these women would’ve been friends.”
The questions stack up as the viewers’ loyalty bounces between the two women. What’s the story with Emma’s daughter? How did Connie crumble into such a mess and what drove her to do what she did?