The Jetty star says viewers will be "fooled" by direction it takes
"It takes you down a lot of dead ends, and gets you thinking that you know all the answers."
Jenna Coleman's new crime thriller series The Jetty is about to start airing on BBC One.
It follows a detective in a scenic Lancashire lake town as she tries to work out how a property fire connects to a podcast journalist investigating a missing person cold case, and an illicit relationship between a man in his twenties and two underage girls.
Alongside Coleman, the series also stars Archie Renaux as Hitch, another rookie detective working with Coleman's Ember Manning, and Renaux has teased just how twisting and turning the show is.
Renaux said: "It always keeps you guessing. It takes you down a lot of dead ends, and gets you thinking that you know all the answers – like I did when I first read the scripts – but then you’ll be taken somewhere completely new and realise you’ve been fooled."
Other stars set to feature in the drama include House of the Dragon's Tom Glynn-Carney, as well as Ruby Stokes, Laura Marcus, Bo Bragason, Weruche Opia, Amelia Bullmore, Matthew McNulty and Ralph Ineson.
Elizabeth Kilgarriff, executive producer for production company Firebird Pictures, also pointed to the unique nature of the show, highlighting its thematic explorations alongside its crime genre trappings.
Kilgarriff said: "On the surface The Jetty has all of the really enjoyable delicious things of a crime show. But essentially it’s a really clever, interesting portrayal of a woman dealing with grief and having to reassess her life up until now.
Read more:
- The Jetty stars explain why "it's important to tell this story now"
- Ben Miller says his Suspect character is "more developed" in season 2
"I’m always looking for a piece that is one thing on the surface but then is also giving you something else, so it feels properly distinctive, and that’s what Cat’s idea did.
"It is about sexual morality, consent, coming of age, grooming, identity and relationships but it wears all of those things very lightly in the sense that it’s also just a really interesting story set in a community where various things that have happened connect very cleverly together.
"I also think thematically what it looks at, and what Cat wanted to explore, is how much has changed in the last 20 years in terms of women, misogyny and how much things have been buried beneath the surface.
"Cat has written a series, in a way, that allows you to look at what life was like for teenage girls 20 years ago versus now."
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The Jetty will be available on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 15th July 2024.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
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.
