TWISTED SISTERS
They live in the same street and both hide dark secrets. Cue an addictive psychological thriller...
PICK OF THE WEEK HOLLINGTON DRIVE Wednesday, ITV, 9pm
She’s long delighted fans of Motherland with her merciless portrayal of the permanently stressed-out Julia in the hit sitcom. Now the brilliant Anna Maxwell Martin once again plays a put-upon wife and mother but now in a dark, though deeply engrossing, new drama in the classic tradition of psychological thrillers which peel back the deceptively pleasant façade of suburban life.
At first sight you might wonder why anyone wouldn’t want to live in one of the pristine, white-fronted houses on Hollington Drive, the setting for the four-part series.
Sisters Theresa (Maxwell Martin) and Helen (Rachael Stirling) have both chosen the street to make their separate homes with their partners and children.
But, as the two sets of families gather together for a happily raucous barbecue in the lovely garden of Theresa and her husband Fraser (Rhashan Stone), all their lives are about to be thrown into turmoil after a ten-year-old local boy vanishes and a police search begins.
The missing child is a pupil at the school where Helen is head teacher. Amid the glare of press coverage, a skeleton in her closet may soon emerge that would instantly destroy her reputation.
Meanwhile, Theresa fears that her own son may somehow be connected to the disappearance – and she harbours an incendiary secret from years back in her past which she now may feel compelled to reveal to her husband as a result of what’s happened.
The brilliantly crafted script by fast-rising talent Sophie Petzal (who first won critical acclaim for her Channel 5 drama-thriller Blood with Maxwell Martin’s Line Of Duty co-star Adrian Dunbar) expertly ratchets up the tension scene by scene and endows the characters with emotionally involving depth far beyond that of a routine whodunnit.
Reunited for the first time since they were cast alongside one another in The Bletchley Circle, the leading ladies once again demonstrate their credentials as two of Britain’s finest actresses.
While Stirling’s Helen presents an imperious front of nerveless, cool determination, Maxwell Martin depicts Theresa as a creature so wary and fragile that there’s no telling quite what will come next at any moment: you daren’t take your eyes off this nuanced, captivating performance for even a moment whenever she’s on screen.
After the shocking and disturbing moments in the opening episode, you’re really not very likely to want to live on Hollington Drive.
But thanks to an instantly addictive storyline played out with a fine cast, you’ll definitely want to visit it for an hour each Wednesday evening for the next few weeks.