THE LONG CALL
ITV, 9pm
A STELLAR cast leads this fournight murder mystery thriller that has a Broadchurch feel with plenty of detectives with dark pasts.
Based on the novel by Ann Cleeves, it stars Ben Aldridge as DI Matthew Venn, who has returned to live in a small community in North Devon with his husband.
Matthew was brought up in the evangelical Barum Brethren before leaving to go to university. At 19 he knew he couldn’t continue to live there, hiding his sexuality and, to his mother’s despair, declared he no longer believed.
Pearl Mackie as DS Jen Rafferty and Anita Dobson as Grace with, right, Martin Shaw as Dennis Stephenson
Now he’s back, not just to grieve for his father, but to lead the investigation into a shocking murder.
Juliet Stevenson plays his mother Dorothy, who challenges Matthew’s return to the area.
In the meantime, there’s work to be done after the body of a man is found on the beach close to Matthew’s home – casting suspicion on the entire community.
Pearl Mackie plays DS Jen Rafferty, who helps Matthew in the investigation while also managing her two teenage kids as a single parent. Having set up a new life in Devon, she’s trying to put some distance between her own traumatic scars from her former life in London.
Martin Shaw plays the Brethren leader Dennis Stephenson, with Anita Dobson as his wife Grace, while Neil Morrissey appears as one of the locals Christopher Reasley.
Ben Aldridge says: “Matthew is a brilliantly unorthodox detective who audiences will see solving a gripping and intricate case, while at the same time surmounting a deeper, more personal mystery within himself.”
■ Continues tomorrow night