''National Treasure'' is a four-part 2016

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing the stage play ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films ''Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', an ...

. It stars

Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He ...

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

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 Lucy Renee Speed (born 31 August 1976) is an English actress best known for her television roles as Natalie Evans in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1994 to 1995 and again from 1999 until 2004, and as DS Stevie Moss in the ITV police ...

as Young Marie *

as Danielle "Dee" Finchley, Finchley's daughter ** Cara Barton as Young Dee *

Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was born ...

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 Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Ma ...

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 Susan Lynch (born 5 June 1971) is a Northern Irish actress. three-times an IFTA Award winner, she also won the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2003 film '' 16 Years of Alcohol''. Her other film appearances in ...

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 Graeme Hawley (born 28 November 1975) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as John Stape in the British soap ''Coronation Street''. Career Hawley graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996 with a degree in Drama, be ...

as Dan * William Wright-Neblett as Billy, Dee's son *

Kerry Fox Kerry Lauren Fox (born 30 July 1966) is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie ''An Angel at My Table'' directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and ...

as Zoe Darwin, Finchley's barrister * Renaee-Mya Warden as Frances *

Jeremy Swift Jeremy Paul Swift (born 27 June 1960) is an English actor. He studied drama at Guildford School of Acting from 1978 to 1981 and worked almost exclusively in theatre throughout the 1980s, working with companies such as Deborah Warner's Kick Thea ...

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 Benedict Lloyd-Hughes (born 14 April 1988) is a British actor. He is known for portraying Josh Stock in the British series '' Skins'' (2007) and for his role as Will in the film '' Divergent'' (2014). He plays Tsar Alexander in the 2016 BBC tel ...

as Freddie * Ronnie Fox as Taxi Driver * Vicki Hackett as Receptionist *

Ian Puleston-Davies Ian Puleston-Davies (born 6 September 1958) is a Welsh actor and writer. He is best known for his role as builder Owen Armstrong in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2010 to 2015. In November 2014, ITV announced that Puleston-Davi ...

as Leo * Johann Myers as Dave * Catherine Breeze as Nurse *

Darren Boyd Darren John Boyd (born 30 January 1971) is a British actor who starred in the Sky 1 series ''Spy'', for which he won a BAFTA Award. His work in television and film spans comedy and drama. Early life Boyd began acting at age 17 in amateur theat ...

as Hamish *

Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and presenter. He is known for his quick wit, writing and starring in the sitcom ''Not Going Out'', being a team captain on the ...

as Himself *

Robert Webb Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell. Webb and Mitchell both starred in the Channel 4 sitco ...

as Himself *

Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeon ...

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 Victoria Antoinette Derbyshire is a British journalist, newsreader and broadcaster. Her eponymous Victoria Derbyshire (TV programme), current affairs and debate programme was broadcast on BBC Two and the BBC News (TV channel), BBC News Channel ...

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