Channel 5 thriller Deadline, which premieres on Tuesday 5th April, stars Peaky Blinders’ Charlie Murphy as Natalie Varga, a woman who stands accused of murdering her husband, which she vehemently and convincingly denies.
But with the press gunning for a guilty conviction, the “black widow”, as she’s labelled, enlists the help of investigative journalist James Aiden (Agent Carter’s James D’Arcy) in an attempt to clear her name.
“Everything is trial by media these days,” Murphy told RadioTimes.com. “It’s definitely a commentary on that. Whether she’s guilty or innocent, people have made up their minds before she even hits the courtroom, and that has happened time and time again [in the real world].
“[We discussed] how people judge how others react to losing someone, what is socially acceptable; how people study people’s behaviour, if they cry or if they don’t cry.”
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/04/deadline-channel-5-cast-bdc0e91.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
D’Arcy referenced the case of Amanda Knox, who criticised the media’s portrayal of her and accused them of building a false narrative as she stood trial for the murder of student Meredith Kercher, for which she was ultimately acquitted in 2015.
“Amanda Knox was a definite touchstone for us in terms of references of trial by media,” D’Arcy said. “We talked about the way the tabloid media will spin things.
“That’s obviously the starting point of the entire show. He’s putting together the [crime] reconstruction [for his documentary] and he’s made a decision already. There’s a narrative in there that he’s decided.
“The media is biased. It needs clickbait.”
Chatting about what initially attracted her to the project, Murphy said: “It’s safe to say we’re both Hitchcock fans and there’s definitely that tone to it.”
D’Arcy agreed: “I’ve known the director for a while and he explained how he was going to borrow from Hitchcock, and that to me was pretty exciting.
“I also thought they did the twists really well. I feel like I’m very familiar with watching thrillers and this one, I just couldn’t quite place where it was going to go next.”
Deadline airs on Tuesday 5th April at 9pm on Channel 5. Looking for something else to watch? Check out the rest of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.