THE BEAST MUST DIE
WHY BRIT THRILLER THE BEAST MUST DIE IS SET TO SLAY…
BritBox original series, not to be confused with the ’74 guess-the-werewolf yarn.
I’m going to kill a man. I don’t know his name, what he looks like or where he comes from, but I’m going to find him and I’m going to kill him.’ What could be better than that?” Actor and exec producer Nathaniel Parker is enthusing about the opening lines to The Beast Must Die, a thriller by Nicholas Blake (the pen name of poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis) that has been turned into BritBox UK’s first original drama, a tale of grief, revenge and good old-fashioned murder.
Cush Jumbo plays Frances Cairns (Frank in the original novel), a teacher and mother who vows to track down and kill the person she believes killed her six-year-old son in a hit-and-run on the Isle of Wight. Her prime suspect is the charismatic, self-absorbed George Rattery (Jared Harris). She must infiltrate his world of easy entitlement, ostentatious wealth and obsession with status, negotiating the simmering suspicions of George’s sister Joy (Geraldine James) and D.I. Strangeways (Billy Howle), newly arrived from London. Following the death of his professional partner back on the mainland and facing a negligence
complaint, Strangeways is wrestling with PTSD with the assistance of a therapist played by Parker, who came up with the idea to adapt the novel.
“I first read this story 22 years ago as an audiobook, and I’ve always thought it was the best plot I’ve ever come across,” says Parker over Zoom from the set on the Isle of Wight. “Every word is carefully chosen and Day-Lewis crystallises passion and heartfelt sorrow in a way I’ve rarely read. I tried a decade or so ago to write a treatment for a film, but Jill Balcon [Day-Lewis’ widow] wasn’t keen. After she died, her executors got in touch and we got started on it. I remember driving around on my first day on the island, and within a quarter of a mile I saw a sad little sign asking for witnesses to a car accident, with a few broken flowers nearby. I went, ‘My God, this is exactly what we’re dealing with!’”
SUCCESS ALL AREAS
Harris, a friend of Parker’s for years, was on board early. When accepting his Best Actor Bafta for Chernobyl, Harris referred good-naturedly to Daniel Day-Lewis being first choice for that role. In another Day-Lewis connection, the actor is now starring in a story originally written by Daniel’s dad. “The scripts by Gaby Chiappe were fantastic,” he enthuses. “I was hooked by the first episode, but I only appear on the last page so I still didn’t really know who this guy was – so I demanded episode two!”
It’s fair to say that Harris was satisfied by what he found – not for nothing is Rattery called “the beast”.