The new Netflix<\/a> show has been created and written by Morgan, with Benedict Cumberbatch<\/a> leading the cast as Vincent, a puppeteer who is rocked by the disappearance of his young son Edgar and uses his drawings to try and bring him home.<\/p>\n The \u201980s-set series unfolds in New York, following the missing case of Edgar and another teenager, Marlon Rochelle, whose case isn\u2019t getting quite as much attention in the media. But is the new show based on real events?<\/p>\n Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Morgan explained: \u201cWell, I mean, weirdly actually, I think growing up in the UK in the \u201980s, I remember being haunted by those stories of children who had gone missing, and then when I went to New York, I looked after a young boy in New York in the mid-\u201980s.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I was out there, I saw the milk carton kids and the missing persons. So that has always been very haunting.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking about the inspiration behind the cases included in Eric, Morgan continued: \u201cI don\u2019t think it was ever based on one specific case, but I think in choosing to go back to that time, I wanted to go back to that very vivid period in history where, obviously, there were those cases.<\/p>\n \u201cBut in many ways, it was more a kind of shout-out to those cities where kids can go missing. At the heart of the show is Vincent\u2019s belief that \u2018I want to live in a world where a child goes out into the world and can come home safe\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess that\u2019s the kind of callout at the centre of the show, is that we all want to live in that world \u2013 but unfortunately, there are monsters in the most surprising places.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess that\u2019s what\u2019s at the heart of Eric, this quest for a father to find his son, but also a man who\u2019s then having to explore the monsters in himself and the city he\u2019s grown up in.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The playwright and screenwriter has also penned films such as The Iron Lady and The Invisible Woman, and is soon set to work on an upcoming two-part special<\/a> of The Split, as well as executive producing The Split spin-off The Split Up<\/a>.<\/p>\n As for Eric, the new series also stars Gaby Hoffmann as Edgar\u2019s mother Cassie and McKinley Belcher III as Detective Michael Ledroit, who is investigating both cases of Edgar and Marlon \u2013 but is also battling his own personal issues.<\/p>\n Eric centres on Edgar\u2019s disappearance as he goes missing on his way to school one day, but also uncovers plenty else in its themes, including homelessness, poverty, racism and more.<\/p> The official series synopsis reads: \u201cVincent, one of New York\u2019s leading puppeteers and creator of the hugely popular children\u2019s television show Good Day Sunshine, struggles to cope with the loss of his son, Edgar, becoming increasingly distressed and volatile.<\/p>\n \u201cFull of self-loathing and guilt around Edgar\u2019s disappearance, he clings to his son\u2019s drawings of a blue monster puppet, Eric, convinced that if he can get Eric on TV then Edgar will come home.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Vincent\u2019s progressively destructive behaviour alienates his family, his work colleagues, and the detectives trying to help him, it\u2019s Eric, a delusion of necessity, who becomes his only ally in the pursuit to bring his son home.\u201d<\/p>\n Eric is available to stream on Netflix from Thursday 30th May.\u00a0Sign up for Netflix from \u00a34.99 a month<\/a>. Netflix is also available on\u00a0Sky Glass<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Virgin Media Stream<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.\u00a0<\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n “In choosing to go back to that time, I wanted to go back to that very vivid period in history.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":52268,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/the-split-creator-reveals-haunting-inspiration-behind-new-netflix-series-eric.jpg",2048,1366,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/the-split-creator-reveals-haunting-inspiration-behind-new-netflix-series-eric-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/the-split-creator-reveals-haunting-inspiration-behind-new-netflix-series-eric-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/the-split-creator-reveals-haunting-inspiration-behind-new-netflix-series-eric-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/the-split-creator-reveals-haunting-inspiration-behind-new-netflix-series-eric-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/the-split-creator-reveals-haunting-inspiration-behind-new-netflix-series-eric-1536x1025.jpg",1536,1025,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/the-split-creator-reveals-haunting-inspiration-behind-new-netflix-series-eric.jpg",2048,1366,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"\"In choosing to go back to that time, I wanted to go back to that very vivid period in history.\"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/52267"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Gaby](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/05\/Eric-Netflix-Benedict-Gaby-7684561.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Eric")
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