Suranne Jones plays Gemma Foster, a Midlands doctor who discovers her property-developer husband Bertie Carvel has spent two years sleeping with 23-year-old Kate, played by Jodie Comer. Over ten hour-long episodes writer Mike Bartlett re-routes Euripides’ Medea through commuter-belt cul-de-sacs, GP surgeries and glass-walled show homes until every respectable surface is broken. The first series (2015) ends with Gemma exposing the affair at a cocktail party, Simon bankrupt and Kate pregnant; the second (2017) brings the couple back together to torment each other anew while their teenage son Tom Taylor watches the collateral damage accumulate.
Filming took place in Hitchin’s Market Square, Chesham’s Chess Medical Centre and Enfield Chase station, locations that lend the domestic stand-off a bland, anywhere-in-England sheen. Ludovico Einaudi’s piano theme “Fly” recurs like a panic attack. BBC One billed the show as a psychological thriller; viewers simply called it divorce with better lighting. After the final credits rolled on 3 October 2017, Bartlett announced the story was complete, leaving Parminster to re-settle into its commuter-calm façade.
Production Details
BBC One / 3 Seasons / 10 Episodes / 2015 - Present
Created by: Mike Bartlett
Writer(s): Mike Bartlett
Cinematography: Ben Wheeler
Main Cast
Suranne Jones as Dr Gemma Foster
Bertie Carvel as Simon Foster
Clare-Hope Ashitey as Carly
Isabelle Estelle Corbusier as Kiki Farren
Thusitha Jayasundera as Ros Mahendra
Martha Howe-Douglas as Becky
Jodie Comer as Kate Parks
Tom Taylor as Tom Foster
John Webber as Dr. Stevens
