SPLIT DECISIONS
Take a tumble with a hard-hitting drama
THE Responder deals with life on Liverpool’s nocturnal streets. This six-part drama takes place mostly in the daytime, but it offers another rather murky view of Merseyside. The Gathering is the first original TV project from writer Helen Walsh and has been backed by World Productions, who are also behind such thrilling series as Line of Duty and Vigil.
At its centre is is teenager Kelly, who is viciously attacked during a rave on a tidal islet.
An accomplished gymnast with dreams of competing as part of Team GB, she is also a member of a group of urban free-runners; their reckless lifestyle is in sharp contrast to the disciplined world Kelly inhabits during her sporting career.
It seems that a fellow member of the gang may be the one behind the attack. The story slowly uncovers the truth, and also looks at the part their parents – inadvertently or otherwise – could have played in the crime.
The idea behind the series is to investigate the ways in which parents impose their agendas and ideas on their teens, who also have the added pressure of social media to deal with.
“I wanted to write a twisty, state-of-the-nation take on Philip Larkin’s notorious observation about parents and kids,” claims Walsh. “In an era where the micro-managing of children’s lives has become the new normal, The Gathering throws today’s surveillance parenting into sharp focus and asks who is really to blame when our kids mess up.
“I’m thrilled to be working with the excellent team at Channel 4 and World Productions and look forward to seeing the kinetic worlds of free-running and tumbling gymnastics brought to our screens.” TV newcomer Eva Morgan plays Kelly, and if early glimpses of her in action are anything to go by, she has a big future ahead of her. Sadie Soverall is also impressive as Kelly’s gymnastic rival, Jessica, who begins to buckle under the pressure elite sport brings.
Watch out too for the more familiar faces of Vinette Robinson as Jessica’s pushy mother, Warren Brown as a hard-working single parent and Richard Coyle as a successful solicitor among the supporting cast.