Stolen lives
IAIN GLEN is a chilling kidnapper in a dark new thriller
The Cane Field Killings
Sunday,10.30pm, C4 (box set, All 4)
Game of Thrones actor Iain Glen takes on a disturbing new role this week in C4’s South African crime drama The Cane Field Killings.
The eight-part series follows brilliant criminal profiler Reyka Gama (Kim Engelbrecht), who is investigating a string of brutal murders in the sugar-cane fields of Kwazulu-natal, while also battling addiction and trauma.
‘Reyka is a natural problemsolver. Her job is her life, and it completely consumes her,’ says Engelbrecht, who also stars in the current season of Raised by Wolves. ‘Reyka occupies her mind with work because she cannot bear to think about her personal circumstances. She feels like a complete failure and is filled with intense guilt and remorse.’
KIDNAPPED
The source of Reyka’s trauma springs from a shocking ordeal in her past. As an11-year-old girl, she was abducted by farmer Angus Speelman, played by Glen, who kept her captive for four years, until she managed to escape. Speelman and his wife kidnapped children because they couldn’t have their own.
‘Speelman was obsessed with creating the perfect family – and that is where the horror seeped in,’ says Glen. ‘He has a very specific pathology that I found interesting.’
When Speelman comes up for parole, he needs Reyka to retract her original statement, and summons her to the prison where he’s been locked up for more than 20 years. Taunting her with the promise of answers to her past, should he be released, he also provides uncannily accurate insights into Reyka’s investigation.
‘Speelman needs Reyka’s help and he will try every trick in the book to obtain her trust again,’ says Glen. ‘These are two damaged characters who have a long history.’
Glen says he thoroughly enjoyed his time in South Africa – especially as he didn’t have to adopt a local accent for his role: ‘I have been lucky to work in the country many times,’ he says. ‘I offered my best South African accent, but the producers decided it was better to keep my Scottish accent…’