Hollington Drive: start date and time, cast and latest news on ITV drama

Over four episodes, we'll gradually learn exactly what happened, as the troubled family is forced to face past and present traumas as a formal police investigation lands at their door.

The premise might sound rather bleak, but there will be moments of lightness in Hollington Drive, as director Carolina Giammetta discussed at a press event marking the launch of the series.

"When you've got humour in a script like this, you've got to be really careful that it's not too funny, but not too dark," she explained. "But it's got to be realistic and when we put characters in an extreme situation, human beings do things that aren't quite what we expect them to do.

"So that was really important for me," Giammetta continued. "But there's lots of emotional things that happen in the story as well, so I wouldn't say it's a dark comedy in any way, but there is humour there – so the tone is quite specific."

Read on for more details including start date and time, as well as cast, plot and trailer, while you can also check out our location guide for details on where Hollington Drive was filmed.

When is Hollington Drive release date on ITV?

CONFIRMED: Hollington Drive starts tonight, Wednesday 29th September at 9pm on ITV.

The series consists of four episodes in total and will air weekly, which points to a finale date on Wednesday 20th October, meaning fans won't have to wait long to find out the truth behind this dark crime story.

Hollington Drive cast

The Hollington Drive cast is led by Line of Duty and Motherland star Anna Maxwell Martin and Detectorists' Rachael Stirling, who play sisters living on the same picturesque suburban street.

Stirling plays Helen, headmistress of a local school which is shaken to its core when a pupil mysteriously disappears, while Martin portrays Theresa, who fears her son could have been involved in the incident.

Rhashan Stone (Finding Alice) and Peter McDonald (Dublin Murders) play their respective partners, while Fraser Holmes and Amelie Bea Smith (The Haunting of Bly Manor) play the kids who fall under suspicion of a terrible crime.

Jodie McNee (Little Boy Blue) and Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood) play the distraught parents of the missing child, while Ghosts co-creator Jim Howick takes on a dramatic role as police investigator DS Parks.

Ken Nwosu (Sticks and Stones) and newcomer Tia May Watts also star.

Hollington Drive plot

Hollington Drive opens on a warm summer evening, as Theresa and her husband host a barbecue in their beautifully maintained garden (see here for our Hollington Drive location guide), with sister Helen and her family enjoying the sunshine.

All seems well, until Theresa's 10-year-old son asks if he and his cousin Eva can play in a nearby park, stoking up some uncertainty in his mother about leaving the children unattended.

She is convinced to let them go but goes out searching for them when they don't return home in time, ultimately finding them arguing on the edge of a woodland area.

Later that evening, Theresa receives word that another child in the neighbourhood has gone missing, causing her to become suspicious over whether her own son and niece could have had something to do with it.

It's a premise that some viewers may feel they've seen before, but Martin assured that this is far from a "cookie cutter" drama while speaking at a virtual press event marking the launch of the show.

"I think it's important to understand that in Sophie's writing, and what Carolina [Giammetta] brings to it in terms of her directing, that it is much more nuanced than that," she said.

Martin continued: "[It's] really exciting to be part of a project like that, not just from a sort of cookie cutter, 'Oh God, another child goes missing' drama, which this is not."

Hollington Drive trailer

ITV has been airing the below teaser for Hollington Drive, which teases the mystery at the heart of the show, as a troubled family are drawn into a police investigation into a child's disappearance. Watch here:

Hollington Drive premieres on ITV tonight at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.