''National Treasure'' is a four-part 2016 British television drama by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, written by Jack Thorne. It stars Robbie Coltrane as Paul Finchley, a once successful comedian of the 1980s and early 1990s, now hosting a television quiz show. He is accused of

raping Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or a ...

several young women in the early 1990s.

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a ...

plays his wife Marie and

Andrea Riseborough Andrea Louise Riseborough (born 20 November 1981) is an English actress and producer. She made her film debut with a small part in ''Venus'' (2006), and has since appeared in more prominent roles in '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008), '' Never Let Me Go ...

plays his daughter Dee. The drama is inspired by

Operation Yewtree Operation Yewtree was a British police investigation into sexual abuse allegations, predominantly the abuse of children, against the English media personality Jimmy Savile and others. The investigation, led by the Metropolitan Police Service ( ...

, a police operation that resulted in the prosecution of a number of veteran TV performers.

Cast

* Robbie Coltrane as Paul Finchley **

Trystan Gravelle Trystan Gravelle (born 4 May 1981) is a Welsh theatre, film and television actor. Life and career Gravelle was born in the Welsh village of Trimsaran in Carmarthenshire. He attended Ysgol Gyfun Y Strade. He was a member of the Llanelli Youth T ...

as Young Paul *

as Marie Finchley, Finchley's wife ** Lucy Speed as Young Marie *

as Danielle "Dee" Finchley, Finchley's daughter ** Cara Barton as Young Dee * Tim McInnerny as Sir Karl Jenkins, Finchley's former comedy partner, now a major star ** Ed Eales White as Young Karl *

Babou Ceesay Baboucarr Alieu Ceesay (born 1979) is a British actor. He is known for his roles in '' Guerrilla'' and ''Rogue One''. He also starred as the main antagonist Pilgrim in season 3 of AMC TV series '' Into the Badlands''. Early life and education C ...

as Jerome Sharpe, Finchley's solicitor * Mark Lewis Jones as Gerry, investigator *

Nadine Marshall Nadine Panchita Marshall (born 30 September 1972) is an English television, stage, and radio actress. Education and career She studied at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama and is best known for her performance as Sally in the British tel ...

as DI Palmer *

Kate Hardie Kate Hardie (born Kate Louise Oddie; 26 April 1968) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in '' The Krays'', ''Mona Lisa'' and the 2016 Channel 4 original series ''National Treasure''. Hardie's stage name is derived from those ...

as Rebecca Thornton, alleged rape victim ** Sarah Middleton as Young Rebecca * Susan Lynch as Christina Farnborough, former babysitter **

Ruby Ashbourne Serkis Ruby Leilani N. Ashbourne Serkis (born 1998) is an English actress. Early life Ashbourne Serkis was born in Hackney, East London, to actors Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne and grew up in North London with her younger brothers Sonny and Loui ...

as Young Christina * Graeme Hawley as Dan * William Wright-Neblett as Billy, Dee's son * Kerry Fox as Zoe Darwin, Finchley's barrister * Renaee-Mya Warden as Frances * Jeremy Swift as Simon *

Rosalind Eleazar Rosalind Eleazar is an English stage and screen actress. She trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, graduating in 2015. Her TV roles include Christine in the BBC series '' Rellik'', Jacky Bast in ''Howards End'', Kate in the ITV ser ...

as Georgina, a prostitute * Vivienne Bell as Stella *

David Fleeshman David Fleeshman (born 11 July 1952) is a British actor, broadcaster, drama lecturer and theatre director with a wealth of experience in film, radio, television, theatre and commercials. Biography Fleeshman was born on 11 July 1952 in Leeds, Wes ...

as Judge * Sam Hoare as Tom * Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Freddie * Ronnie Fox as Taxi Driver * Vicki Hackett as Receptionist * Ian Puleston-Davies as Leo * Johann Myers as Dave * Catherine Breeze as Nurse * Darren Boyd as Hamish * Lee Mack as Himself * Robert Webb as Himself * Alan Carr as Himself *

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), professionally known as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...

as Himself * Victoria Derbyshire as Herself

Plot

Reception

''National Treasure'' received universal acclaim from critics, with a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

rating of 81 out of 100 based on 21 reviews.

References

External links

Channel 4 announcement
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:National Treasure (Tv Series) 2010s British drama television series 2016 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings Channel 4 television dramas English-language television shows Operation Yewtree Peabody Award-winning television programs Rape in fiction 2010s British television miniseries Television shows set in Yorkshire