Noel Clarke teams up with Fleabag director for new ITV drama Viewpoint
The drama is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and German Cold War thriller The Lives of Others.
Noel Clarke will play the lead in a brand ITV drama series titled Viewpoint, based on an idea by Fleabag director, Harry Bradbeer.
The five-part series, co-created by Bradbeer and Manhunt writer Ed Whitmore, is described by ITV as "a contemporary, character-driven mystery with a seductively intimate feel" and follows a tense police surveillance investigation into a tight-knit Manchester community.
Former Doctor Who star Clarke takes on the role of surveillance detective, DC Martin King, and is joined in the main cast by Alexandra Roach (No Offence, Black Mirror), Amy Wren (Tutankhamun, The Last Kingdom), Fehinti Balogun (Informer, January 22nd), Catherine Tyldesley (Scarborough, Coronation Street) and Bronagh Waugh (The Fall, Unforgotten).
The series is said to have taken inspiration from films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and German Cold War thriller The Lives of Others, with the main character setting up an observation post in the home of a single mum, giving him direct sightline into the home of missing primary school teacher, which she shares with her boyfriend and prime suspect Greg Sullivan.
Lucy Bedford, an Executive Producer for the series said, “Harry and Ed have crafted a compelling, tense, claustrophobic thriller that turns the spotlight on the observer rather than the observed. With the incredible Noel Clarke and Alexandra Roach leading the cast, we are extremely excited to be back in production.”
Filming for the series has already begun in Manchester, making Viewpoint the first ITV drama to begin filming since the coronavirus pandemic saw production across the UK halted.
Meanwhile, Clarke spoke at the Edinburgh TV Festival about diversity behind the camera, making a reference to a show he is currently working on.
He said, "Change takes time. I’m on a job now, which I can’t mention, I came in on day one, I’m the lead actor, I came in on day one, I was like, ‘The crew’s not diverse enough. Fix it.’ ‘Yeah but-' ‘Fix it. I don’t wanna hear anything else, fix it.’
"I don’t care if there’s trainees, because his job’s trainee is the next job’s runner, then the next job’s assistant, then they’re a supervisor. And in five years time, three years time, we have more people in the business from different backgrounds - socio-economic, not just about colour."
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
