Channel 4 - Sunday-Wednesday
All eight episodes also available on All 4 from Sunday
When he’s called to a mortuary for a routine identity check, jaded detective Danny Frater gets a shock – the dead woman is his estranged daughter, Christina. But while pathologist Jackie Sowden (Joely Richardson) decides it’s suicide, Danny’s convinced there’s been foul play as he searches for answers.
‘The real irony of it is that the one thing that reignites him as a man, a father, a husband and a copper, is seeing his estranged daughter lying there,’ explains James Nesbitt, who plays Danny.
‘A lot of it to me was about redemption. Not in terms of as a good person, but becoming the father he wasn’t, the copper he used to be, and in a way, the husband he wanted to be. Even though it’s such a bleak story, I think it speaks of humanity in a way.’
Over the next 24 hours, Danny finds out much more about Christina after talking to those closest to her. There’s her wife Nicola (Niamh Algar), her best friend Maia (Antonia Thomas), her business partner Jaisal (Sacha Dhawan), her godfather and Danny’s ex-partner Ryan (Sam Heughan), mentor Harry (Richard E Grant) and her mum, Danny’s ex-wife Susannah (Anne-Marie Duff). But did she genuinely kill herself, or is the reality more sinister?
‘She obviously partied too much and was a bit out of control, but what he learns through that is uncomfortable truths about himself – why did his daughter end up like that?’ says James.
Filmed over eight weeks, each episode is a two-hander between Danny and the other person he’s interviewing.
‘Not that I was living the character on and off-camera – I’m not that sort of actor – but it was all-encompassing. I got to know Danny well, and loved him for all his flaws and weaknesses. I felt as determined as he did to find out what happened.’
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