There’s a new crime drama in town. ITV’s The Suspect will be airing next month, and stars Poldark’s Aidan Turner as clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin.
Doctor Joe’s seemingly perfect life is thrown out of balance when he’s diagnosed with Parkinson’s, so naturally he copes by aiding detectives on a murder case. But it soon becomes clear Joe has a dark side, and his interest in the murder could be hiding some criminal tendencies of his own.
The series is based on Michael Robotham’s bestselling novel of the same name, which the show’s executive producer originally wanted to adapt for the screen five years ago.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Jake Lushington explained: “Both of my parents consume thrillers like other people eat crisps, so I’m always dipping into them. But normally, when I dip in, either the tone of them or the way they tell the story, I can see how they work perfectly well as books but I can’t quite see it as an adaptation. And this one was the complete opposite. I was visualising as I was reading it, and I couldn’t stop reading it.”
Despite being so taken by Robotham’s work, getting the rights to the novel was a tricky task.
“It was a fascinating, interesting character with a brilliant opening story – so I tried to get the rights and I didn’t get them. They went somewhere else,” Lushington said.
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He added: “I even talked to Peter [Berry, screenwriter] about the book at that stage. And he said he wanted to do it, but we had to wait another four-and-a-half years – by which time the very kind literary agent with a good memory rang me back and said, ‘Do you want to try it again?’ and then we finally got it.
“I rang up Peter, who was fortunately still free and interested. And that’s how it started.”
After a five year journey to the screen, The Suspect will be airing on ITV next month.
Additional reporting by Morgan Jeffery.
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