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, ...
supernatural
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
television series created and 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 ...
. The six episodes were first broadcast on
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
and
BBC HD
BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...
beginning 21 September 2011 and on BBC America from 14 January 2012. In April 2012, Johnny Harris confirmed that a second season had not been commissioned.
Plot
Paul, a student with a history of
bedwetting
Nocturnal enuresis, also informally called bedwetting, is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually begins. Bedwetting in children and adults can result in emotional stress. Complications can include urina ...
, is haunted by apocalyptic dreams. He is able to see spirits of the dead, known as the Fades, all around him. The Fades cannot be seen, smelt, heard or touched by other humans – they are what is left of humans who have died but have not been able to ascend, because the ascension points on earth have been closing, and few can go through the ones that are still open. Because of this, the Fades left on Earth have become embittered and vengeful toward the human race, and have since developed a way to become partly human again and regain control of touch within the real world. They remain unseen in the world except to those special few like Paul, called "Angelics", who have the ability to perceive the Fades. Paul finds himself pulled into a conflict between the Angelics and the Fades, trying to prevent the Fades from regaining physical form and destroying the human race.
Production
Filming took place at various locations in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, England. The school scenes were filmed at Queens School,
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...
. The majority of the location filming took place in
South Oxhey
South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. At the 2011 Census S ...
,
Oxhey
Oxhey is a suburb of Watford, under the jurisdiction of the Watford Borough Council of the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is located at and is part of the Watford. It is in the Oxhey Ward of Watford Borough Council.
Oxhey grew during th ...
,
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
,
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...
, and Hatfield. The abandoned shopping centre used in the first episode is
Oriental City
Oriental City was a major shopping centre in Colindale, North London, England, originally built as a luxury Japanese shopping centre called Yaohan Plaza by the Yaohan retail company of Japan. After Yaohan filed for bankruptcy in 1997, the centr ...
Iain De Caestecker
Iain De Caestecker ( ; born 29 December 1987) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying Leopold Fitz/The Doctor in the television series ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''. He is also known for his roles in Coronation Street as Adam Barlow ...
) Paul, the 17-year-old protagonist who discovers he is an Angelic, a human being who can perceive Fades, the spirits of the living who have not moved on to the afterlife.
* Michael "Mac" Armstrong (
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nomin ...
), Paul's best friend.
* Neil Valentine ( Johnny Harris), an Angelic and Paul's mentor.
* Sarah Etches (
Natalie Dormer
Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982)Tom Ellis), Sarah's husband, and Paul's history teacher.
* Helen (
Daniela Nardini
Daniela Nardini (born 26 April 1968, Largs) is a Scottish actress who played Anna Forbes in the BBC Two television series ''This Life''. The role earned her a BAFTA Best Actress award in 1998 and also earned her a Scottish BAFTA. She won a sec ...
), an Angelic.
* Meg Roberts (
Claire Rushbrook
Claire Louise Rushbrook (born 25 August 1971) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne in ''Secrets & Lies (film), Secrets & Lies.''
Early life
Claire Louise Rushbrook was born on 25 August 1971 in Hitchin, Hitchin, Hert ...
), mother of Paul and Anna
* Anna Roberts (
Lily Loveless
Lily May Loveless (born 16 April 1990) is an English actress, best known for her role as Naomi in the BAFTA award-winning drama '' Skins''.
Career
Loveless made her acting debut in the third series of Skins, playing the sexually confused, ou ...
), Paul's twin sister.
* Jay (
Sophie Wu
Sophie Wu (born 23 December 1983) is a British actress, known for her roles in films such as '' Kick-Ass'' and TV series such as ''The Fades'' as Jay, ''The Midnight Beast'' as Zoe, plus the second and third series of '' Fresh Meat'' as Heather. ...
), Anna's best friend, and the object of Paul's affection.
* John (
Joe Dempsie
Joseph Maxwell Dempsie (born 22 June 1987) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Chris Miles in the E4 teen comedy-drama '' Skins'' (2007–2008) and Gendry Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013; 2017–2019).
Dempsie's e ...
), a Fade and the primary antagonist of the series.
* Natalie (
Jenn Murray
Jenn Elizabeth Murray (born 1 April 1986) is a Northern Irish actress. In 2009, she received an IFTA Award nomination for her role in the film ''Dorothy Mills'' (2008). Her other notable roles were in ''Brooklyn'' (2015), ''Fantastic Beasts and ...
), a Fade, and follower of John.
* DCI Armstrong (
Robbie Gee
Robbie Gee (born 24 March 1970) is a British actor, best known for his ''Desmond's'' character "Lee Stanley", for appearing in Guy Ritchie's crime caper '' Snatch'', and for his comedy roles in TV series like ''The Real McCoy'' and ''The Crouc ...
), Mac's father and the detective working the cases of the dead and missing
* Steve McEwan (Chris Mason), Anna's boyfriend.
Episodes
Reception
Michael Deacon, of ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' newspaper, described the opening episode as "promisingly tense."
Writing for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Ben Dowell commented that the series proved that "It is difficult not to watch BBC3 and E4 and think channels which target the under 35s are emerging as amongst the best places for boldness and innovation in UK TV drama."
See also
*
List of ghost films
Ghost movies and shows can fall into a wide range of genres, including romance, comedy, horror, juvenile interest, and drama. Depictions of ghosts are as diverse as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Beetlejuice, Hamlet's father, Jacob Marley, Freddy Kru ...