Danger lurking in the nest
Channel 5, 9pm
AN UNHAPPY family and a mysterious lodger in a farmhouse under renovation – this has all the makings of a thrilling drama. Especially when the lodger becomes a bit of a bunny boiler.
Stripped over four nights this week, the intense domestic drama stars Jill Halfpenny, Lee Ingleby and Claire Goose in the story of a family’s descent into extreme jeopardy.
Jessica (Goose), Nick (Ingleby), and their daughter, Alice (Freya Hannan-Mills), relocate to the countryside, hoping to leave financial struggles and family conflicts behind.
The family take in a lodger, Sian (Halfpenny), who befriends Jessica and Alice but triggers suspicion in Nick.
When Sian first arrives, she’s charming, but Alice and Nick both feel uncomfortable.
Nick calls one of
Sian’s references and discovers that the woman is her aunt, leaving him even more suspicious.
The red flags keep appearing, with Sian eavesdropping on everything, taking in the marital strife, mother-daughter problems and financial worries. She also learns that Nick cheated on Jessica in the past, and uses the information to her advantage.
The couple starts to worry about Sian’s true intentions when she begins borrowing Jessica’s clothes, being overly familiar with Nick and developing an inappropriate connection with Alice.
The scheming soon becomes quite sinister.
Jill, who was initially approached to play Jessica but asked to play femme fatale Sian instead, says: “Sian sees they are in a bit of a sticky situation, she finds their Achilles heel and she just twists the knife.”