“We don’t live in a world where women and girls are safe and secure.”
Jenna Coleman returns to screens this later this month in a new BBC detective series, The Jetty.
The four-part crime drama has been described “as much of a coming-of-age story as a detective thriller” and aims to ask “big questions about sexual morality, identity and memory in the places that Me Too has left behind”.
Across the series, Coleman’s Detective Ember Manning draws a connection between a “podcast journalist investigating a missing persons cold case and an illicit relationship between a man in his 20s and two underage girls” after a property is destroyed by a fire.
While this is the backdrop of the series, writer and creator Cat Jones explained that The Jetty is “really about the relationship between men and women in a post ‘Me Too’ world”.
In the press notes for the series, Jones added: “It’s about looking at the relationship between a sexist remark in the pub against violence towards women and girls, and the fact that one can be an incubator for the other.
“We don’t live in a world where women and girls are safe and secure.”
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With these key themes, The Jetty is a story the cast believe needs to be told.
Archie Renaux, who stars as Hitch, noted that he believes it’s “important to tell this story now” because even though progress is being made, “there are still grey areas”.
He continued: “For example, just because something is legal doesn’t necessarily make it right. I think the show sheds light on topical issues and will spark necessary conversation.”
Weruche Opia echoed a similar sentiment, noting that the series will help audiences realise “that what was deemed acceptable back in the day wasn’t necessarily right”.
Opia said: “Grooming and crimes against women are huge issues that we shouldn’t be experiencing in the world we live in now but, unfortunately, we are still dealing with these things, so I think they’re really important themes to explore.”
Across the four episodes, Ember will get closer to the truth, but in turn it forces her to “re-evaluate everything she thought she knew about her past, present and the town she’s always called home”.
The Jetty will be available on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 15th July 2024.
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