The first episode of Maryland saw tensions bubbling under the surface between Suranne Jones's Becca and Eve Best's Rosaline, two sisters who reunited following the shock death of their mother on the Isle of Man.

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However, in tonight's second episode these tensions are set to come to a head, with writer Anne-Marie O'Connor teasing a blazing row between the sisters when speaking at a Q&A for the series.

O’Connor said: "Sometimes, with rows like the one that is coming up, it's almost like you've got a script in your head - like you've had things that you've wanted to say for years and then, when it goes, you're like, ‘Right, let’s have it, the gloves are off. Come on, bring your worst.' And they do. I loved writing it."

Meanwhile, director Susan Tully called the scene "a joy" to film, although she added that "the difficulty with scenes like that, it was three or four pages of a row, and if you've got two sisters going at it in a room, you've got to be careful that as a viewer it's not off-putting."

Suranne Jones as Becca in Maryland
Suranne Jones as Becca in Maryland. ITV

She continued: "Because, in real life, if you suddenly witness a massive row between two people, you just want to kind of leave and give them some space. So how do you keep an audience with you? But that's where the writing and the performances that I got come in, because it goes through so many different layers.

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"If it's just anger that you see, if you just see an explosion of a built-up anger going back 20, 30 years, then it wouldn't sustain it for that amount of time. But you see their confusion, pain, vulnerability, bits of humour even, in there."

Some viewers may have already seen the scenes O'Connor and Tully describe, as the series is now available to stream in full on ITVX.

The three-part drama has been co-created by Jones, who explained that she drew on her own experiences to craft the show's grief storyline.

She said: "I think it's no secret that I've lost both my parents. So, obviously, I know grief. And that was a huge part of our conversations, 'What that is to someone.' It's either going to come or people have experienced it, and I think what this show does is it doesn't deal with it quickly, it deals with it over three episodes."

Maryland is available to stream in full on ITVX now, while episode 2 airs on ITV1 at 9pm on Tuesday 23rd May. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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Authors

James HibbsDrama Writer

James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.

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