Anybody taking a punt on what the flagship BBC drama for the summer would be would probably be surprised to learn it’s a twisted horror-thriller.
Wolf, starring Ukweli Roach, Juliet Stephenson, Sacha Dhawan and Iwan Rheon, has been adapted from Mo Hayder’s acclaimed Jack Caffery series of books, with the six-part series taking its title from the seventh and final novel in the collection.
It’s been turned from page into screen by the writer and producer Megan Gallagher, and the trailer makes it look like a must-watch show of the summer:
What’s the big idea?
Roach stars as DI Caffery, and he’s a troubled detective (aren’t they all?) who’s haunted by the murder of his 10-year-old brother in the ‘90s. Not only is he still obsessed by the case, but he’s convinced that the murderer is his old next-door neighbour.
Meanwhile, over in Monmouthshire in an isolated mansion (again, aren’t they all?), it all goes a bit the Funny Games when the wealthy Anchor-Ferrers are interrupted by two men, and the family find themselves “the victims of a psychopath’s cruel games, trapped and terrorised.”
So what links these two stories? Well, we’ve got no idea yet, but it looks like we’re going to be gripped until the big reveal.
Who else is starring in it?
Dhawan and Rheon look set to be the double act of the two men who show up at the Anchor-Ferrers house, starring, respectively, as Honey and Molina. Stevenson plays the mother, Matilda, with Owen Teale as her husband and Annes Elwy as their daughter, Lucia. Meanwhile Sian Reese-Williams stars as DI Lincoln.
What does the writer have to say about it?
Gallagher explained to expect the unexpected: “This series charts two storylines that are nail-bitingly close to one another but don’t collide until one heck of a finale that includes song and dance (yes, really), and a fair bit of blood. The tone of the series is at times heightened and absurd, with large doses of dark humour, which I think audiences will find really thrilling.”
She also described it as: “A riveting crime story was baked into Mo’s novel – such incredible plotting – as a screenwriter, it completely hooked me in.”
Where was it filmed?
It was filmed on location in Wales, and in Monmouthshire.
When’s it on?
It starts on Monday July 31 at 9pm on BBC One, and all episodes will be available on iPlayer after the first episode airs.
