Note: contains discussion of themes including suicide that some readers may find upsetting.
Chatting to RadioTimes.com about new Channel 5 psychological thriller Deadline, star James D’Arcy, who plays investigative journalist James Alden, said: “I feel like I’m very familiar with watching thrillers but this one, I just couldn’t quite place where it was going to go next.”
He’s not wrong.
Natalie Varga, played by Peaky Blinders’ Charlie Murphy, stands accused of murdering her husband, and the public consensus is that she’s guilty, hence the ‘Black Widow’ moniker.
But at the end of episode 1, Natalie delivers a fresh piece of information that blows the case wide open: her brother Oliver, who she previously claimed had died four years ago after taking his own life, is very much alive and responsible for the murder.
“It opens up so many other questions as to who Natalie really is, and what she’s come from,” Murphy told RadioTimes.com.
D’Arcy added: “Just when you thought you were on solid ground, the rug is ripped from underneath you in a way that you just didn’t see coming. I remember when I first read that twist, the first of many twists in the show, I remember thinking, ‘Wait, what? What?! Oh, it’s not even the same show that I thought it was.’”
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Murphy echoed that: “You’re not just dealing with, ‘Did she, didn’t she?’ It’s a complete curveball as to who the hell [she is] and what the hell is going on?
“She’s just full of contradictions, which is a joy to play. And she’s very good at compartmentalising parts of her life.
“Throughout the interviews that happen within the show, you start weeding out little pieces of information, that she has come from a very different background to where she is when we meet her at the beginning. But that’s eked out over time.
“And characters like Mrs Molnar, there’s such an air of mystery in terms of their dynamic. It’s just so alluring.”
D’Arcy drew a comparison between the character of James and Emily Blunt’s Kate Macer in Sicario, “who’s constantly trying to find out what on earth is happening”.
He added: “All these other people around [James] are projecting one thing, and then actually [the truth is] something completely different. And then it’s something completely different again.
“And James has his own secret history that feeds into some of that.”
Deadline continues on Wednesday 6th April at 9pm on Channel 5 and is also available to watch on My5. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what else is on tonight.
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