Hot Picks: The Suspect

World Productions, Broadcast Awards 2022 best independent production company, is in the midst of a purple patch. After Line Of Duty, Vigil and The Pembrokeshire Murders became the most-watched dramas of 2021, it quickly followed up with courtroom drama Showtrial, which consolidated nicely for BBC1, and biopic Anne, which landed on ITV to rave reviews.

Next up for the prolific producer is The Suspect, a five-part psychological thriller based on the best-selling debut novel by Michael Robotham.

The series tells the story of doctor Joe O’Loughlin, who appears to have the perfect life: a loving family, a successful practice as a clinical psychologist, a healthy media profile and a publishing deal. He is even labelled a hero after rescuing a young patient who was ready to jump from the tenth floor of the hospital where he works. 

But when his professional opinion is sought by police officers investigating the death of a young woman found in a shallow grave, the body is someone he knows. From that moment, the drama asks whether Joe has a secret life, and whether his work as a clinical psychologist has allowed him to develop a criminal mindset. 

The series’ array of talent is impressive. Aidan Turner (Poldark) stars as Joe alongside Shaun Parkes (Small Axe), Sian Clifford (Quiz), Camilla Beeput (Save Me Too), Adam James (Vigil), Anjli Mohindra (Vigil) and Bobby Schofield (Time).

Gangs Of London scribe Peter Berry has adapted Robotham’s novel for TV, while Liar, Vigil and Broadchurch director James Strong will helm the first three episodes before Camilla Strøm Henriksen (Phoenix, Occupied) takes over. World Productions’ head of drama Jake Lushington (Vigil, Born To Kill), will oversee the series. 

“It is a fast-paced suspenseful thriller, it grabs you from the first frame,” says Gisela Asimus-Minnbergh executive vice-president, EMEA sales and distribution at ITV Studios, who teases that the opening is as tense as the famous start to Bodyguard.

That pace, she says, means ITVS will be able to target streamers alongside traditional free-to-air broadcasters, given SVoD audiences’ proclivity for high-octane drama. As a drama akin to Vigil and Bodyguard, The Suspect has “broad, commercial appeal”, but would not be out of place at a US platform like Peacock, on which Vigil launched. 

Asimus-Minnbergh has high hopes for deals in western European countries such as Germany and France, where she says fast-paced drama cuts through well and that the interest in World Productions’ shows is such that the main challenge for ITVS is to carve out windowing as opposed to striking pan-territory deals. 

“To get the order right, and knowing that the streamers are very keen on European content and well-produced commercial British content, is tricky,” she says.