Hot Picks: The Jetty

In a departure from the revenge-seeking scorned wife she played in last year’s Prime Video thriller Wilderness, Jenna Coleman takes on the role of rookie detective Ember Manning in her latest tie-up with Firebird Pictures.

Set in the picturesque hills of Lancashire, crime thriller The Jetty follows Manning’s investigation of a house fire, which is linked to a missing person’s cold case. The more she discovers, the more complex and reflective of her own life the case becomes.

BBC Studios managing director of scripted Mark Linsey has high expectations for the character of Manning and draws a parallel with Happy Valley’s Catherine Cawood.

“Audiences will quickly identify with Ember and the challenges she faces being a wife and mother working a very difficult job, the same way they did with Sarah Lancashire’s immense portrayal of Catherine,” he says.

“In Britain, we have a history of creating iconic female detective characters. They have fundamental human flaws that make them hugely relatable for audiences, but ultimately they just want to get things done and do the right thing.

“At BBC Studios, we are very keen to help create those returning characters, and we have huge hopes that Ember will become an iconic character of the future. In Jenna, we have the right actress to enable that.”

Besides Coleman, The Jetty will feature a roster of established and up-and-coming British talent, including Archie Renaux (Shadow And Bone), Laura Marcus (Bad Education), Bo Bragason (Renegade Nell) and Amelia Bullmore (Happy Valley).

Linsey also commends the “nuanced” script, written by Cat Jones (Wolfe; Harlots), who is also an executive producer, alongside Firebird co-founder Elizabeth Kilgarriff.

He says her experience writing for soaps including EastEnders, Doctors and Waterloo Road has helped her become a “master of plot, characterisation and the complexities of human behaviour”. 

Increasingly, he says, audiences want to be challenged by the dramas they watch and have a “meaningful” experience rather than just an entertaining one. “The story is a very good crime thriller, but it also opens up deeper questions about sexual consent, morality and identity, and leans into the Me Too movement,” he says.

“It is bold and ambitious in trying to tackle these issues at pace but with substance and dramatic tension.”

Linsey adds that people around the world will be drawn in by the show’s picturesque setting in the north of England.

“Under the beauty and tranquillity of this sleepy town is a murky underbelly of deceit and secrets and a close community, where neighbours have long-rooted relationships with each other and the place in which they live.”

As a character-led crime drama with the right combination of actor, writer and producer – and broad appeal for many ages - Linsey believes the market will be keen to get in on the action. “Getting that combination is not always easy but we really believe we have found one, and hopefully what we have is the next Happy Valley,” he says.