Dominic Cooper Leads Scandalous New Romance Drama With Vigil And Heartstopper Stars From Missing You Writer
Bristling with passion, a new series storms onto ITV soon.
ITV has a new romantic drama with a title that does not beat around the bush: 'Adultery'. Dominic Cooper and Vigil alum Romola Garai lead the whole messy thing, courtesy of writer Danny Brocklehurst, who usually teams with Harlan Coben but this time is playing in his own sandbox.
What it is
Tom (Cooper) and Beth (Garai) are strangers until their teenagers start dating at school. Jess (Heartstopper's Leila Khan) and newcomer Ollie (Johnny Sanpher) fall hard, and their parents, watching it happen, catch feelings of their own. Tom and Beth click immediately and launch into an affair they try to conceal from their partners.
Those partners are not incidental: Shelley Conn (Bridgerton) plays Hannah, Tom's wife, and Matthew McNulty (The Jetty) is Neil, Beth's husband. They are the collateral damage in a story the network is pitching as bold and thorny, with class tension, grief, and the always-lurking influence of social media pushing on two supposedly ordinary families until the whole situation tips into chaos.
Cast
- Dominic Cooper as Tom
- Romola Garai as Beth
- Leila Khan (Heartstopper) as Jess, Tom's daughter
- Johnny Sanpher (newcomer) as Ollie, Beth's son
- Shelley Conn (Bridgerton) as Hannah, Tom's wife
- Matthew McNulty (The Jetty) as Neil, Beth's husband
- Andrew Knott (Gavin & Stacey) as Dave, the ex-husband of Beth's recently deceased best friend
- James Murray (The Crown) as Tom's brother
- Charley Webb (The Long Shadow) as Tom's sister-in-law
Behind the scenes
Created by Danny Brocklehurst (the Harlan Coben regular behind Missing You and Fool Me Once), this is his own original, not another Coben adaptation. If you like a little inside baseball: Will Sinclair (Vera) directs episodes 1-3, and Daniel O'Hara (Stay Close) handles episodes 4-6. Six episodes total, each an hour.
What they are saying
"It is a wonderful privilege to assemble such an amazing cast for Adultery. The characters in our show have complex emotional lives and we needed the very best acting talent to bring them to the screen. I could not be more thrilled."
- Screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst
"I am thrilled that we have assembled such a high calibre cast for Danny's wonderful scripts. Dominic and Romola are two remarkable actors at the peak of their careers and it is hugely exciting to see what they bring to this juicy, gripping and complex show alongside their amazing co-leads Matthew and Shelley."
- Producer Ben Stephenson
When and where
'Adultery' runs for six hour-long episodes on ITV1 and ITVX, with STV also carrying it. Premiere date: to be announced. Given the title and the team involved, expect a sharp, provocative spin on the 'two families in freefall' template—very much truth-in-advertising.