Jill Halfpenny and Lee Ingleby's twisty thriller The Cuckoo lands on Netflix

The series was created by Barunka O’Shaughnessy (who is also a co-creator of The Teacher) and follows husband-and-wife Jessica (Claire Goose) and Nick (Ingleby) as they move with their young daughter Alice (Freya Hannan-Mills) from the city to the countryside, where they plan on turning over a new leaf after suffering various financial woes and personal struggles.

Of course, that's not quite what happens – and when they decide to take in a lodger named Sian (Halfpenny) things start to spiral drastically out of control.

Sian strikes up a heartfelt connection with Alice and both parents become increasingly mistrustful of their houseguest, whose troubled past risks destroying the fragile life they've built.

Speaking when the show was first premiering, Halfpenny described it as "fun" and "perfect for if you come in from work and you're tired after a hard day, looking to be distracted" – something which seems to be backed up by its newfound popularity on Netflix.

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She added: "It might feel familiar because there’s a nod to an older type of show that you might have watched when you were in your teens, and it’s intense, but we’re not out to rip you to pieces, it’s entertaining. And people will shout at the telly!

"You’ll have moments where you’re in complete disbelief watching people behave in a certain way."

The Cuckoo is now streaming on Netflix – sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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