Safe House (TV series)

Last updated

Safe House
Genre Crime drama
Created byMichael Crompton
Starring Christopher Eccleston
Marsha Thomason
Paterson Joseph
Jason Merrells
Nicola Stephenson
Christine Tremarco
Zoë Tapper
Peter Ferdinando
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersJill Green
Paula Cuddy
ProducersAndrew Benson
Susan Dunn
Running time45 minutes
Production companyEleventh Hour Films
Original release
Network ITV
Release20 April 2015 (2015-04-20) 
28 September 2017 (2017-09-28)

Safe House is a British crime drama, broadcast on ITV, with the first series starring Christopher Eccleston and Marsha Thomason as the principal characters, Robert and Katy, who turn their beautiful picturesque guest house in the Lake District into a Safe House after being persuaded by one of Robert's former colleagues. [1]

Contents

The first series of Safe House began broadcasting in April 2015, and following successful viewing figures, a second series - with a different cast - was commissioned and began broadcasting on 7 September 2017. Each series is made up of four episodes, each following a different set of guests who are forced to take refuge at the Safe House, whilst re-telling the story of how they came to arrive in the first place. The first series was released on DVD on 25 May 2015. [2] The second series was released on 20 November 2017. [3]

Plot

Former police officer Robert (Christopher Eccleston) and his wife, teacher Katy (Marsha Thomason) are approached by one of Robert's former colleagues, Mark (Paterson Joseph), who is looking for a remote location to offer as a safe house to a family who have been forced to go on the run. Robert reluctantly agrees, but finds himself drawn into a game of cat and mouse between a dangerous offender and the family he is trying to protect. [4]

The first series was solely written by creator Michael Crompton, and directed by Marc Evans, known for his work on Hinterland and Collision . The second series was penned by the writing team of Ed Whitmore and Tracey Malone, both known for their work on Silent Witness , while Evans returned to direct. [5]

Cast

Main

Series 1

Series 2

Recurring

Series 1

Series 2

Episode list

Series 1 (2015)

EpisodeTitleWritten byDirected byViewers
(millions) [6]
Original airdate
1"Episode 1"Michael CromptonMarc Evans8.4420 April 2015 (2015-04-20)
Still haunted by his inability to save a witness some years earlier, retired policeman Robert and his wife Katy open a hotel in the Lake District and, at the request of his former colleague Mark, they turn it into a safe house. Their first guests are prison warder David Blackwell, his wife Ali and children Louisa and Joe, following the attempted abduction of little Joe at a fairground by a man calling himself Michael, who also stabbed a man to death who tried to intervene. The family has another son, student Sam, whose whereabouts are unclear and who does not seem keen to contact his parents. They fear that Michael will go after him to get to them and their fears appear to be justified.
2"Episode 2"Michael CromptonMarc Evans7.2427 April 2015 (2015-04-27)
Mark identifies the attacker as Michael Collersdale, an ex-convict and drug dealer, as the police locate Sam and bring him to the safe house. He tells Robert that he fell into manufacturing drugs but not for Collersdale, whom he does not recognize. David was a warder at a prison where Collersdale served time but also claims not to know him, though Robert is suspicious that David was receiving large money sums - which he explains away. The Blackwells learn their new identities - they are tourists from Manchester - but Collersdale invades their house, discovering associates he can threaten to get to them.
3"Episode 3"Michael CromptonMarc Evans6.634 May 2015 (2015-05-04)
Ali's drug addicted sister Gemma is found dead in her flat after a visit by Collersdale and Robert is not convinced when Ali claims to have lost contact with her a long time ago. Eventually Ali admits that Joe is Gemma's son, adopted by Ali and David because of his mother's addiction, whilst Collersdale, breaking into the Blackwells' house, gets closer to locating them. At the same time Reynolds, who killed his wife Susan, leading to Robert's resignation, plans an appeal - alleging that the police withheld information at his trial. Mark shows Robert a CCTV film of him kissing Susan but Robert claims that it was platonic. Robert now wonders how Reynolds knew where to shoot at him and Susan and suspects a police officer told him.
4"Episode 4"Michael CromptonMarc Evans6.7811 May 2015 (2015-05-11)
As Collersdale finally catches up with David and his family, his motive for pursuing them becomes clear and it is down to Robert to save the day, following another attempt to abduct Joe. However, after the family return home, Robert still has an unanswered question regarding the death of witness Susan Reynolds, requiring a visit to her husband in prison and a showdown with the person who betrayed him and Susan.

Series 2 (2017)

EpisodeTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal airdateViewers
(millions) [6]
5"Episode 1"Marc EvansEd Whitmore7 September 2017 (2017-09-07)5.09
6"Episode 2"Marc EvansEd Whitmore, Tracey Malone14 September 2017 (2017-09-14)4.31
7"Episode 3"Marc EvansEd Whitmore, Tracey Malone21 September 2017 (2017-09-21)4.23
8"Episode 4"Marc EvansEd Whitmore, Tracey Malone28 September 2017 (2017-09-28)3.82

Related Research Articles

<i>Cracker</i> (British TV series) British television crime drama series (1993–2006)

Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV, created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. Set in Manchester, the series follows a criminal psychologist, Dr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane, who works with the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to help them solve crimes.

<i>Hetty Wainthropp Investigates</i> British television crime drama series (1996–1998)

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is a British crime drama television series, starring Patricia Routledge as the title character, Henrietta "Hetty" Wainthropp, that aired for four series between 3 January 1996 and 4 September 1998 on BBC One. The series, spawned from a pilot episode entitled "Missing Persons" aired by ITV in 1990, was co-created by writers David Cook and John Bowen, co-starred Derek Benfield as Hetty's patient husband Robert, and Dominic Monaghan as her assistant and lodger Geoffrey Shawcross. It marked Monaghan’s acting debut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Eccleston</span> English actor (born 1964)

Christopher Eccleston is an English actor. A twice BAFTA Award winner, he has been active in television and film, which includes his role as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who (2005), playing Matt Jamison in The Leftovers (2014–2017), and his collaborations with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom.

<i>Murphys Law</i> (British TV series) Television series

Murphy's Law is a BBC television drama, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Northern Ireland, starring James Nesbitt as an undercover police officer, Tommy Murphy. There were five series of the drama, shown on BBC One. The first two were composed of individual stories. Series three, four and five were each single stories composed over multiple episodes. Colin Bateman adapted the pilot for a novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsha Thomason</span> English actress (born 1976)

Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes is an English television and film actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's The Haunted Mansion, Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series Las Vegas, Naomi Dorrit on the ABC series Lost, FBI agent Diana Berrigan on the USA Network series White Collar and DS Jenn Townsend in ITV crime series The Bay.

<i>Vincent</i> (TV series) British television series

Vincent is a British television crime drama series, created and principally written by Stephen Butchard, that first broadcast on ITV on 10 October 2005.

<i>Murder Investigation Team</i> (TV series) British police procedural TV series (2003–2005)

Murder Investigation Team was a British police procedural drama/cop thriller series produced by the ITV network as a spin-off from the long-running series, The Bill. The series recounts the activities of the Metropolitan Police's Murder Investigation Team, who are led in Series 1 by D.I. Vivien Friend and her more intuitive colleague D.C. Rosie MacManus. Series 2 sees old-school copper Trevor Hand taking the reins under D.C.I. Anita Wishart and manage the newly transferred D.C. Eva Sharpe. The series produced 12 episodes between 3 May 2003 and 1 August 2005. In September 2005, The Sun reported that ITV would not be commissioning a third series.

Blue Murder is a British crime drama television series based in Manchester, originally broadcast on ITV from 2003 until 2009, starring Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis and Ian Kelsey as DI Richard Mayne. Five series of the programme were broadcast over the course of six years. Reruns have aired on ITV3.

<i>Law & Order: UK</i> British police procedural television series

Law & Order: UK is a British police procedural and legal television programme broadcast from 2009 to 2014 on ITV, adapted from the American series Law & Order. Financed by the production companies Kudos Film and Television, Wolf Films, and Universal Television, the series originally starred Bradley Walsh, Freema Agyeman, Jamie Bamber, Ben Daniels, Harriet Walter and Bill Paterson. Dominic Rowan, Georgia Taylor, Paul Nicholls, Ben Bailey Smith, Sharon Small, Peter Davison and Paterson Joseph joined the cast in later series. This is the first American drama television series to be adapted for British television, while the episodes are adapted from scripts and episodes of the parent series.

<i>DCI Banks</i> British television crime drama series

DCI Banks is a British television crime drama series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the ITV network. Originally broadcast over five series in 2010–2016, the series was based on Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks novels and stars Stephen Tompkinson as Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. In 2013, the series won in the drama category at the regional Royal Television Society Yorkshire Programme Awards.

<i>Vera</i> (TV series) British crime drama television series (2011-present)

Vera is a British crime drama series based on the Vera Stanhope series of novels by Ann Cleeves. First broadcast on ITV on 1 May 2011, it stars Brenda Blethyn as the principal character, Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. In January 2024, it was confirmed that the show has been renewed for a fourteenth series.

<i>Endeavour</i> (TV series) British television detective series (2012–2023)

Endeavour is a British television detective drama series on ITV. It is a prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse series. Shaun Evans portrays the young Endeavour Morse beginning his career as a detective constable, and later as a detective sergeant, with the Oxford City Police CID. Endeavour is the third of the Inspector Morse series following the original Inspector Morse (1987–2000) and its spin-off, Lewis (2006–2015).

<i>Supply & Demand</i> (TV series) British television crime drama series (1997–1998)

Supply & Demand is a British television crime drama series, written and devised by Lynda La Plante, first broadcast as a single feature-length pilot on ITV on 5 February 1997. The series follows the work of ESUS, a crack team of detectives tasked with investigating some of the country's biggest criminal importers and smugglers. The pilot was written in 1996, the year that La Plante's most notable television series, Prime Suspect, went on hiatus. Adé Sapara, Eamonn Walker, Benedict Wong, Juliet Aubrey and Ramon Tikaram were credited as principal cast members for the pilot.

<i>Grantchester</i> (TV series) British detective drama

Grantchester is a British ITV detective drama set in the 1950s in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester. The show first featured Anglican vicar Sidney Chambers, and subsequently vicar William Davenport, each of whom develop a sideline in sleuthing with the help of Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, played by Robson Green.

<i>Agatha Raisin</i> (TV series) British comedy-drama television program

Agatha Raisin is a British comedy-drama television program, based on M. C. Beaton's book series of the same name about a former PR agent who solves crime mysteries in the Cotswolds village of Carsely.

<i>Unforgotten</i> British crime drama series

Unforgotten is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Cassie Stuart, DCI Jessie James and DI Sunny Khan as they solve cold cases of disappearance and murder.

<i>Marcella</i> (TV series) British television series

Marcella is a British Nordic noir detective series, written, directed and produced by Swedish screenwriter Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of The Bridge. The series is produced by Buccaneer Media for ITV and distributed worldwide by Buccaneer's parent company Cineflix. It was first shown on ITV on 4 April 2016, with seven further episodes released weekly.

<i>The Guilty</i> (TV series) British TV series or programme

The Guilty is a three-part television drama, broadcast on ITV from 5 to 19 September 2013. The drama stars Tamsin Greig, Darren Boyd and Katherine Kelly, and involves the police investigation into the disappearance of young boy, Callum Reid. In 2008, DCI Maggie Brand (Greig) is tasked with finding the missing boy, while dealing with her own personal problems – but he remains missing. Five years on, Callum's body is recovered and Maggie is determined to discover what happened. The series was subsequently released on DVD in the Netherlands in 2014, but as of 2016, remains unreleased in the UK.

<i>The Bay</i> (TV series) British crime drama series

The Bay is an ITV crime drama series produced by Tall Story Pictures and distributed worldwide by ITV Studios Global Entertainment that first aired in March 2019. The first two series starred Morven Christie as a detective sergeant family liaison officer. Marsha Thomason took over the leading role from series three as DS Jenn Townsend. The first series centred around an investigation into teenage missing twins from a family living in Morecambe. The name of the series derives from Morecambe Bay, in the county of Lancashire in the north-west of England.

References

  1. Mangan, Lucy (21 April 2015). "Safe House review – nobody broods better than Christopher Eccleston". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  2. "Safe House [DVD]". Amazon. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  3. "Safe House: Series 2 [DVD]". Amazon.com . Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  4. "ITV commissions atmospheric thriller Safe House from Eleventh Hour Films". itv.com. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  5. "ITV commissions second series of Safe House". itv.com. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Top 30 Programmes". BARB. Retrieved 11 February 2016.