''Safe House'' is a British

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

, broadcast on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

, with the first series starring

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor. A two-time BAFTA Award nominee, he is best known for his television and film work, which includes his role as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series '' ...

and

Marsha Thomason Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is a British television and film actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's ''The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series '' Las Vegas'', Naomi ...

as the principal characters, Robert and Katy, who turn their beautiful picturesque guest house in the Lake District into a Safe House after being persuaded by one of Robert's former colleagues. The first series of ''Safe House'' began broadcasting in April 2015, and following successful viewing figures, a second series - with a different cast - was commissioned and began broadcasting on 7 September 2017. Each series is made up of four episodes, each following a different set of guests who are forced to take refuge at the Safe House, whilst re-telling the story of how they came to arrive in the first place. The first series was released on DVD on 25 May 2015. The second series was released on 20 November 2017.

Plot

Former police officer Robert (

) and his wife, teacher Katy (

) are approached by one of Robert's former colleagues, Mark (

Paterson Joseph Paterson D. Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor. He appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of ''King Lear'' and ''Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in ''Casualty (TV series), Cas ...

), who is looking for a remote location to offer as a safe house to a family who have been forced to go on the run. Robert reluctantly agrees, but finds himself drawn into a game of cat and mouse between a dangerous offender and the family he is trying to protect. The first series was solely written by creator Michael Crompton, and directed by Marc Evans, known for his work on ''

Hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

'' and ''

Collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great fo ...

''. The second series was penned by the writing team of Ed Whitmore and Tracey Malone, both known for their work on ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...

'', while Evans returned to direct.

Cast

Main

Series 1

as Robert Carmichael, a retired former police detective *

as Katy Carmichael, Robert's wife and a teacher at the local school *

as DCI Mark Maxwell, a former colleague of Robert

Series 2

* Stephen Moyer as Tom Broom, an ex-police officer *

Zoë Tapper Zoë Tapper (born 26 October 1981) is an English actress who first came to prominence playing Nell Gwynne in Richard Eyre's award-winning film ''Stage Beauty'' in 2004. She is known for portraying Anya Raczynski in '' Survivors'' and Mina Har ...

as Sam Stenham, Tom's partner

Recurring

Series 1

Jason Merrells Jason Scott Merrells (born 2 November 1968 in Epping, Essex) is an English actor, who is best known for his roles in ''Casualty'', ''Queer as Folk'', ''Cutting It'', '' Waterloo Road'' and ''Emmerdale''. Early life and education Jason Sc ...

as David Blackwell *

Nicola Stephenson Nicola Stephenson (born 5 July 1971) is an English actress. She played the roles of Margaret Clemence in ''Brookside'', Julie Fitzjohn in '' Holby City'', Sarah Williams in '' The Chase'', Allie Westbrook in '' Waterloo Road'', and Tess Harris ...

as Ali Blackwell * Peter Ferdinando as Michael Collarsdale *

James Burrows James Edward Burrows (born December 30, 1940), sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows, is an American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s.Stated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' Burrows has direct ...

as Sam Blackwell *

Harriet Cains Harriet Cains (born 17 September 1993) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Jem Walker in the BBC Three series '' In the Flesh'' and Philipa Featherington in Netflix's historical romance drama ''Bridgerton''. Early life and ...

as Louisa Blackwell * Max True as Joe Blackwell *

Christine Tremarco Christine Tremarco (born 1977) is a British television actress whose career began in 1992. She is best known for portraying the role of Davina Shackleton in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2007–2009) and also in BBC ...

as DS Becky Gallagher *

Sarah Smart Sarah Smart (born 3 March 1977) is an English actress. Early life Smart was born on 3 March 1977 in Birmingham, England and lived in Northfield until 1987. She was a pupil of St Paul's School for Girls in Birmingham. Career Her career star ...

as Megan

Series 2

Sunetra Sarker Sunetra Sarker (born 25 June 1973) is an English actress and presenter, known for her roles as Nisha Batra in '' Brookside'', Anji Mittel in ''No Angels'', Zoe Hanna in '' Casualty'' and Kaneez Paracha in ''Ackley Bridge''. In 2014, she took p ...

as DCI Jane Burr * Gary Cargill as DI Oliver Vedder * Ashley Walters as John Channing * Stephen Lord as James Griffin *

Sacha Parkinson Sacha Louise Parkinson (born 11 March 1992) is an English actress, known for her role as Sian Powers on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life Sacha Louise Parkinson was born on 11 March 1992 in Salford, Greater Manchester, the ...

as Dani * Joel MacCormack as Liam Duke *

Jason Watkins Jason Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He has also ...

as Simon Duke

Episode list

Series 1 (2015)

Series 2 (2017)

References

External links

* {{IMDb title , tt4567314 ITV television dramas British crime drama television series 2015 British television series debuts 2017 British television series endings 2010s British drama television series English-language television shows