ITV Autumn dramas 2021: From Manhunt: The Night Stalker to Angela Black and Stephen

WE may all be roasting in the summer heat at the moment, but before you know it, the nights will be drawing in and we’ll be getting cosy on our sofas once again.

And when we do, ITV has plenty of juicy new dramas for us to be gripped on. Here’s what to look forward to this Autumn.

STEPHEN

ITVStephen is the three-part sequel to the groundbreaking drama, The Murder of Stephen Lawrence[/caption]

Sharlene Whyte, Steve Coogan and Hugh Quarshie play leading roles in Stephen, the three-part sequel to the groundbreaking drama, The Murder of Stephen Lawrence.

The drama portrays events from 2006, thirteen years after Stephen’s death on the evening of 22 April 1993, from a racially motivated attack whilst waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham.

Even though Doreen and Neville Lawrence knew the identity of their son’s killers, the original investigation had failed to convict those responsible.

Their extraordinary campaign for justice led to a public inquiry which branded the Metropolitan Police institutionally racist and brought about sweeping changes in the law and police practices and transformed thinking and understanding of racial inequality in the UK.

Yet six years on from the inquiry no progress had been made into the case.

The drama tells the story of the ongoing struggle by Doreen and Neville Lawrence to achieve justice and how a detective, DCI Clive Driscoll – working closely with the Lawrences – puts together an investigation that finally, more than 18 years after his death, secures the convictions of two of the gang who committed the murder of Stephen.

ANGELA BLACK

ITVJoanne Froggatt plays a victim of domestic violence in Angela Black[/caption]

Angela Black’s life appears idyllic: a house in suburban London, days working volunteer shifts at a dogs home, two beautiful sons and a charming, hard-working husband – Olivier.

However, beneath this façade of charmed domesticity, Angela, played by Joanne Froggatt, is a victim of domestic violence. Olivier (Michiel Huisman) is controlling and brutal; but Angela loves him and he’s the father of her children.

She can’t leave him, even though she has threatened to countless times. So she covers her bruises with make-up and fabricates lies to explain away her missing teeth.

Until, one day, Angela is approached by Ed (Samuel Adewunmi) a Private Investigator, and he smashes her already strained domestic life to pieces. Ed reveals Olivier’s deepest secrets to Angela, and she is faced with horrifying truths about her husband and his betrayals.

But can Angela trust Ed? And what truths from Angela’s past life will be revealed in the ferocious fight between her and her husband? With one encounter, Angela’s life switches from school runs and the dogs home to private detectives and buried secrets.

Angela Black is a Hitchcockian thriller that follows one woman as she risks everything she holds dear to fight back against the man who has suppressed and tormented her for most of her adult life.

MANHUNT: THE NIGHT STALKER

ITVMartin Clunes returns as DI Colin Sutton[/caption]

BAFTA award-winning actor Martin Clunes reprises his role as the former London Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector, Colin Sutton, in a sequel to the critically acclaimed drama, Manhunt.

Manhunt: The Night Stalker, a four-part drama, is the real-life story of the police pursuit of a notorious burglar and rapist, whose 17 year reign of terror left thousands of elderly people in South East London living in fear. It is based on the diaries of Colin Sutton.

The drama is written by Ed Whitmore (Viewpoint, Silent Witness, Rillington Place, Strike Back) who also wrote the first series of Manhunt, which told the real-life story of how the murder of Amelie Delagrange on Twickenham Green in 2004 was eventually linked to the murder of Marsha McDonnell in 2003 and the abduction and murder of Milly Dowler in 2002 and how the tenacious detective pursued serial killer, Levi Bellfield, and brought him to justice.

This sequel is based on the true story of the police investigation of a series of rapes, sexual assaults and burglaries which took place in South East London between 1992 and 2009.

A dedicated unit, Operation Minstead, was established to hunt down the man who became known as The Night Stalker.

THE TOWER

ITVGemma Whelan leads the cast in The Tower[/caption]

Gemma Whelan stars as Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins in new ITV series The Tower, adapted by Homeland writer and executive producer Patrick Harbinson.

Emmett J. Scanlan, Tahirah Sharif and Jimmy Akingbola also star in the three part series produced by Windhover Films and Mammoth Screen, in association with ITV Studios, and based on Post Mortem, the first in Kate London’s Metropolitan series of novels.

In The Tower’s breath-taking opening sequence, a veteran beat cop and a teenage girl fall to their deaths from a tower block in south-east London. Left alive on the roof are a five-year-old boy and rookie police officer Lizzie Adama (Tahirah Sharif).

Within hours, Lizzie has disappeared, and Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins is charged with leading the investigation. She not only has to track down Lizzie before she comes to serious harm, but also to uncover the truth behind the grisly deaths. What chain of events took two police officers and two children to the roof of that tower block – why did two of them die? Why did two of them survive?

The antagonistic relationship between the experienced Sergeant Sarah Collins and the novice cop Lizzie Adama is at the heart of London’s novels and The Tower. What happened on the roof of the tower is the mystery that Sarah must uncover. When it’s finally revealed, the truth will cast its shadow over Sarah and Lizzie’s relationship and their lives.

Emmett takes the role of uniformed police inspector Kieran Shaw, Jimmy is DC Steve Bradshaw. Also joining the cast are Nick Holder as PC Hadley Matthews and Lola Elsokari as Farah.

HOLLINGTON DRIVE

ITVAnna Maxwell Martin and Rachael Stirling star in this four-part thriller[/caption]

Anna Maxwell Martin and Rachael Stirling play sisters in a new four-part thriller for ITV, Hollington Drive, from acclaimed screenwriter Sophie Petzal.

Theresa, (Anna) and her older headteacher sibling, Helen (Rachael) are close and their partners Fraser, (Rhashan Stone, Finding Alice) and Helen’s partner, David (Peter McDonald, Dublin Murders) and children enjoy spending time together.

We open on a warm, balmy evening, barbecue sizzling on the patio, the perfect family setting. The atmosphere is chilled, as they lounge in Theresa and Fraser’s perfectly manicured garden.

Apart from Fraser’s brother Eddie (Ken Nwosu, Sticks and Stones) winding everyone up, there’s hardly a hint of tension, but this is the calm before the storm.

When Theresa’s ten-year-old son, Ben (Fraser Holmes) asks to play in the nearby park with his cousin Eva (Amelie Bea Smith, The Haunting of Bly Manor), the adults begin to niggle.

Fraser is relaxed and is fine for them to go, but this doesn’t help Theresa’s fears of foreboding and growing feelings of anxiety.

As expected the children don’t return on time, and Theresa goes in search. Her suspicions are heightened when she finds the children on the edge of a woodland area and they appear to be fighting.

Immediately her instincts tell her something terrible has happened. This is all too realised when later that evening distraught neighbour, Jean (Jodie
McNee, Little Boy Blue), calls on the family. Her ten-year-old son Alex has gone missing…

THE LONG CALL

ITVThe Long Call follows DI Matthew Venn, who has returned to live in a small community in North Devon with his husband[/caption]

Lead actor Ben Aldridge (Our Girl, Fleabag) stars in The Long Call, ITV’s gripping four-part event drama adapted by KellyJones (Des, Baptise) from the best-selling novel of the same title from award-winning writer Ann Cleeves.

Directed by Lee Haven Jones, The Long Call follows Detective Inspector Matthew Venn, who has returned to live in a small community in North Devon with his husband, Jonathan (Declan Bennett).

Matthew was brought up in the Barum Brethren before leaving to go to University. At 19 he knew he couldn’t continue amongst the community and to his mother’s shock and dismay, he declared publicly he no longer believed. Now he’s back, not just to grieve for his father, but to lead a shocking murder investigation back where it all began for him.

Matthew is now forced to re-engage with the community he left, including the most painful and challenging of relationships, with his mother Dorothy played by awardwinning actress Juliet Stevenson (Riviera, Truly Madly, Deeply).

After the body of a man is found on the beach close to Matthew’s home, the investigation throws a cast of doubt on the whole community. Matthew and his team have to get to the bottom of a case which bring with it old wounds and a deadly secret in order to expose the killer.

This powerful and thought-provoking series also stars Pearl Mackie who plays DC Jen Rafferty, a tough and fiercely determined woman who has recently relocated to Devon with her two teenage kids, Ella and Ben. As a diligent worker and a single parent Jen muddles her way through domestic life whilst trying to put some distance between her own traumatic scars from her former life living in London.

Ben, Juliet and Pearl are joined by Martin Shaw as the spiritual Brethren leader Dennis Stephenson and Anita Dobson who plays Grace Stephenson.

Adding to the illustrious cast are Dylan Edwards as DC Ross Pritchard, Pearce Quigley as DCI Joe Oldham, Neil Morrissey as Christopher Reasley, Sarah Gordy as Lucy Craddle, Alan Williams as Maurice Craddle and Amit Shah as Ed Raveley.

VERA

ITVBrenda Blethyn returns as Vera[/caption]

Following the huge success of series ten, Brenda Blethyn returns to the role of DCI Vera Stanhope for two emotionally compelling feature length episodes set against the backdrop of the North East.

The eleventh series opens when the body of well-respected local builder, Jim Tullman, is found beaten to death on the steps of the Collingwood Monument. DCI Vera Stanhope questions how such a seemingly beloved and imposing figure could be attacked so viciously.

The mystery deepens when she discovers that Tullman was due to testify in court as the key witness in a violent assault. Could these two crimes be connected?

As Vera delves deeper into Jim Tullman’s life she discovers unresolved bitterness between his estranged wife Barbara and doting son John Paul, while tensions with old family friends Gary and Lesley Clayton threaten to spill over. Vera must see through the web of family grievances, jealousies and lies to ensure justice is done.

The strong ensemble cast reunited with Blethyn include Kenny Doughty who returns as Detective Sergeant Aiden Healy, Jon Morrison who plays DC Kenny Lockhart, Riley Jones who plays DC Mark Edwards, Ibinabo Jack who plays DC Jacqueline Williams and Paul Kaye as Pathologist Malcolm Donahue.

Guest stars include Lorraine Ashbourne, Mark Benton and Louis Emerick.

GRANTCHESTER

Kudos/ITV/MasterpieceThe sixth series of Grantchester is on its way[/caption]

Robson Green and Tom Brittney reprise their roles as DI Geordie Keating and Reverend Will Davenport for the sixth series of the popular crime drama Grantchester.

Picking up in the year 1958, the series sees the crime fighting duo renewing their partnership to solve new cases.

In the first episode of the new series, Geordie, Cathy and their family, Will, Leonard and Mrs C take a much-needed holiday together. However, what sets out to be a fun-filled break for everyone at a holiday camp, is interrupted by a tragic death at the resort.

Geordie and Will are left with no choice but to help out as an investigation into the death begins. As events unfold on the trip, there will be serious repercussions for the rest of the series.

Tessa Peake-Jones returns as Mrs C, Al Weaver as Leonard Finch, Kacey Ainsworth as Cathy Keating, Oliver Dimsdale as Daniel Marlowe and Nick Brimble as Jack Chapman.

Special guest actors for this series include Rachael Stirling, Andy Nyman, Miles Jupp, Christina Cole, Rebecca Front, Jonathan Aris, Ben Wiggins, Corey Johnson, Tyger DrewHoney, Paul Bradley, Paul Ryan, Gabrielle Glaister, Michelle Greenidge, Gordon Kennedy and Stuart Bowman.

ENDEAVOUR

RexEndeavour tackles three new compelling cases[/caption]

Shaun Evans and Roger Allam reprise their roles as DS Endeavour Morse and DCI Fred Thursday for three new compelling cases written and created by Russell Lewis.

Filmed on location in Oxford the strong ensemble cast reunited with Shaun and Roger for the eighth series includes Anton Lesser (Game of Thrones) who returns as CS Reginald Bright, Sean Rigby (Gunpowder) as DS Jim Strange, James Bradshaw (Close to The Enemy) as Dr Max DeBryn, Abigail Thaw (I Want My Wife Back) as Dorothea Frazil, Caroline O’Neill (Last Tango In Halifax) as Win Thursday and Sara Vickers (Watchmen) as Joan Thursday.

Opening the series in 1971, a death threat to Oxford Wanderers’ star striker Jack Swift places Endeavour (Shaun Evans) and his team at the heart of the glitz and glamour of 1970s football, exposing the true cost of success and celebrity, and with it, a deeprooted division that is soon reflected much closer to home.

Other actors appearing in the new three films include John Hollingworth (The Queen’s Gambit), Joseph Millson (The Last Kingdom), Elliot Levy (Quiz), Julian Moore-Cook (Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation), Ruth Bradley (Humans), Fraser James (Terminator: Dark Fate), Wayne Cater (The Witcher), Oliver Johnstone (Inspector George Gently), Andrew Woodall (Des) and Andrea Lowe (Agatha Raisin).