Before We Die: Cast, time, and synopsis for the Channel 4 thriller

Channel 4’s brand new crime thriller Before We Die kicks off tonight and is set to have viewers glued to the edge of their seats for the next six weeks.

Bob and Rose star Lesley Sharp leads the cast of the gripping series, which begins with her police officer colleague Sean going missing in mysterious circumstances.

It’s a race against the clock for Lesley’s character Hannah to get to the bottom of his disappearance – but will she manage to locate him in time?

We’ve got the lowdown on everything you need to know about the series.

What is Before We Die about?

Before We Die is a six-part crime thriller, full of heart-stopping jeopardy and unpredictable twists.

When Detective Inspector Hannah Laing (Lesley Sharp) kisses her married lover Sean Hardacre (Bill Ward) goodbye one morning, she never imagines it will be the last time she will see her fellow detective alive,’ teases the synopsis.

‘But Sean goes missing and his brutalised corpse is recovered the following day. Determined to find whoever is responsible for killing him, Hannah accesses one of Sean’s confidential contacts and persuades “Issy” to help her unpick the tangled threads of Sean’s investigation into the Mimicas  a tight-knit family who left Croatia for Bristol and now run a successful restaurant, where Christian (Patrick Gibson), Hannah’s son now works.

‘But under the guidance of the ruthless eldest son, Davor (Toni Gojanović), the family are ambitious to expand their criminal activities, which risks stretching family bonds to breaking point. The Mimicas closeness as a family provides a painful contrast to Hannah’s fractured, dysfunctional relationship with her own son.

‘Forced to operate undercover for fear of a criminal informer at Police HQ, Hannah and her sceptical new partner, Billy Murdoch (Vincent Regan), uncover a daring plot by the Mimicas to smuggle an enormous quantity of cocaine into the country. When Hannah also discovers Issy’s identity, however, she quickly realises there is far more at stake than bringing Sean’s killers to justice.’

Who is in the cast of Before We Die?

Lesley Sharp portrays Hannah Laing in Before We Die, a Detective Inspector with the South Western Police’s Organised Crime Unit and is fiercely resisting a transfer to desk duties as retirement approaches.

She has become a by-word amongst her colleagues for hard-core parenting, having engineered the arrest of her son, Christian, which led to him serving a 21-month prison sentence for possession with intent to supply. Divorced from Christian’s father and estranged from her son, Hannah now lives alone but she’s having an affair with a married fellow officer, Sean Hardacre.

Patrick Gibson plays Christian, who is trying to put his life back together having gone off the rails following his parents’ divorce. He’s working as a dish-washer at the Vino Mondana restaurant, after being introduced to the family that owns it by Stefan Vargic, a small-time criminal whom he met in jail. Christian refuses to have contact with his mother, but he’s still close to her boyfriend, Sean.

Vincent Regan stars as Billy in the drama, a police officer employed by the security services., with Bill Ward taking on the role of Sean, Hannah’s married boyfriend and fellow Detective Inspector.

The cast also stars Issy Knopfler as Bianca Mimica, Rebecca Scroggs as Tina Carter, Steve Toussaint as Leonard Kane, Kazia Pelka as Dubravka Mimica, Petar Cvirn as Stefan Vargic and Ryszard Turbiasz as Zvonomir Mimica.

What time is Before We Die on Channel 4?

Before We Die starts Wednesday, May 26 at 9pm on Channel 4 and will continue to air each week.

All episodes will be available on All 4 after the first episode has aired.

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