Marcella (TV series)

Marcella
series title against a blurred background
Genre Crime drama
Created by
Written by Hans Rosenfeldt
Starring
Opening theme "Fall" by The Bug featuring Inga Copeland
Composer(s) Lorne Balfe
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 8
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Hans Rosenfeldt
  • Nicola Larder
  • Tony Wood
Producer(s)
  • Andrew Woodhead
Cinematography Ula Pontikos
Running time 46-47 minutes
Production company(s)
  • Buccaneer Media
Release
Original network ITV
Picture format (4k)[1]
Audio format Stereo
Original release 4 April 2016 (2016-04-04) – present

Marcella is a British crime noir detective series produced, written and directed by Hans Rosenfeldt, a Swedish screenwriter and creator of the series The Bridge (adapted as The Tunnel for British audiences). The series began airing on ITV from 4 April 2016. Episodes are available on Netflix worldwide outside the UK and Ireland after it airs on ITV.[2] On 26 August 2016, ITV announced that a second series had been commissioned, scheduled to premiere in 2017, with Hans Rosenfeldt and Anna Friel returning.[3]

Plot

Former London detective Marcella Backland is devastated when her husband leaves her and their two children. He is head of Legal Affairs at DTG Construction, property developers effectively controlled by the Gibson family. When Marcella is visited by a senior detective on the murder squad seeking information regarding an unsolved, 11-year-old case of a serial killer who seems to have become active again, Marcella returns to the murder squad. She enters a world of online dating, prostitution, and the dubious dealings of her husband's employers while trying to save her marriage.

Production

The production mainly filmed in London and the Port of Dover, featured briefly in Episode 7.[4]

Cast and characters

Main cast

Supporting cast

  • George Anton as Andrew Barnes
  • Yasen Atour as Mohammed El-Said
  • Jasmine Breinburg as Lea Coombes
  • David Fahm as Greg Brady
  • Imogen Faires as Emma Backland
  • Otto Farrant as Evan Jones
  • Asher Flowers as Edward Backland
  • Nick Hendrix as Adrian Cooper
  • Emil Hostina as Bendek Krol
  • Rob Jarvis as Don Parkin
  • Shivani Kapur as Beth Bachan
  • Youssef Kerkour as Hassan El-Said
  • Isobel Middleton as Victoria Daughton
  • Toby Wharton as Ronnie Weir
  • Robert Whitelock as Guy Roberts
  • Susannah Wise as Linda Callaghan

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions)
1"Episode One"Charles MartinHans Rosenfeldt4 April 2016 (2016-04-04)9.18
When her husband Jason leaves her, Marcella is devastated. She is visited by the detective in charge of an investigation that is being linked with one of Marcella's former unsolved cases. The case involves a serial killer who the police believe has begun to kill again after 11 years. Reinstated with her old rank of detective sergeant, Marcella has a very different idea about who should be the main suspect and tells her new superior, to no avail. She discovers her husband, who works as a legal advisor for DTG Construction property developers, is having an affair with Grace Gibson, a director of the firm.
2"Episode Two"Charles MartinHans Rosenfeldt11 April 2016 (2016-04-11)8.37
Grace Gibson is reported missing and Marcella vaguely remembers visiting her the previous evening to confront her about Jason. Marcella is warned by her superiors to stop harassing Peter Cullen, her prime suspect, whom she claims has a personality disorder that cannot take rejection. Marcella herself is being secretly treated for a disorder that causes memory blackouts. Sex worker Cara is threatened in her internet chatroom by someone she has stolen from. Marcella is drawn to a wood on Hampstead Heath by memories and discovers a woman's body wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave.
3"Episode Three"Charles MartinHans Rosenfeldt18 April 2016 (2016-04-18)7.55
Marcella fails to report the body, which is later revealed to be that of Grace Gibson. She is treated as the fourth victim of the serial killer. Marcella's early hopes of a reconciliation with her husband may be fruitless when she discovers that he has been having an affair for more than three years and Grace was pregnant. When Grace's mother, who is also Jason's boss, discovers the affair, she has Jason dismissed. The police realise sex worker Cara can identify the killer and, as Marcella closes in, Cara is murdered by a hit-and-run driver. Student Maddy Stevenson, who has been meeting Peter Cullen while writing a dissertation about him, endangers her boyfriend. Studying CCTV at Hampstead Heath, the police discover that both Clive Bonn and Marcella had been there around the time Gibson's body was left there.
4"Episode Four"Jonathan TeplitzkyHans Rosenfeldt and Marston Bloom25 April 2016 (2016-04-25)7.50
Ordered to check CCTV again, Marcella discovers a taxi parked outside Grace's home the night she was murdered. Jason is beaten by four men. A break-in at a pensioner's home provides a new clue. Marcella fakes her DNA so she cannot be linked to Grace's home, not knowing an illegal immigrant taxi driver saw a woman taking a heavy item from Grace's home. Maddy's boyfriend is found dead on the river shore and Marcella's pursuit of Peter Cullen comes to a head.
5"Episode Five"Jonathan TeplitzkyHans Rosenfeldt and Ben Harris2 May 2016 (2016-05-02)7.15
Marcella's interrogation of Peter Cullen leads to a conclusion to the 2005 murders. The taxi driver who told Marcella he had seen a woman leaving Grace's flat is found shot through the head. Further investigation reveal that it was the taxi driver's brother outside Grace's flat. Marcella discovers evidence that allays her own fears regarding Grace's death. Jason gets his job back but a man is dead. Deliveryman Ron's neighbour and babysitter is found murdered by the serial killer and his young daughter missing.
6"Episode Six"Jonathan TeplitzkyHans Rosenfeldt and Mark Greig9 May 2016 (2016-05-09)7.21
Marcella and her police colleagues desperately search for May, who has been taken by the serial killer. May's father calls her phone, which causes the serial killer to panic and dispose of her phone along the way. Marcella and her team find his burnt out car and the drowned girl nearby. DNA evidence leads to the arrest of Yann Hall, the boyfriend of Henry Gibson's childhood friend, Matthew. The apparent suicide of Andrew Barnes is being investigated. Jason Backland tries to disconnect himself from any involvement by paying off his investigator, who himself is being blackmailed by his lodger, Bendek. Mo, the brother of the taxi driver who was shot, breaks into Marcella's home.
7"Episode Seven"Henrik GeorgssonHans Rosenfeldt16 May 2016 (2016-05-16)6.97
When he seeks a confession that Marcella killed his brother, she only confesses to Mo that she moved Grace's body. The evidence against Yan Hall begins to break down pointing towards his boyfriend Matthew Neil. Jason Backland comes under suspicion regarding the murder of Andrew Barnes. Stuart and his lodger Bendek conspire to blackmail Jason. Bendek is found dead in his room. Matthew Neil appears to have absconded abroad. Marcella accepts her marriage is over.
8"Episode Eight"Henrik GeorgssonHans Rosenfeldt17 May 2016 (2016-05-17)6.80
Unable to find Matthew Neil, Marcella's attention turns to his best friend Henry Gibson, Grace's brother; his phone tracing him to a bar the night Grace was murdered. A bar that was closed and burgled, with nothing taken, that night. Jason realises Marcella's suspicions and he goes to Henry's home to confront him. Marcella follows on and finds Jason stabbed. Henry tries to attack her and she blacks out; whens he wakes up, he is handcuffed with a plastic bag over his face. Marcella barely revives him. When Marcella's colleagues arrive, she is accused by Henry of attacking and trying to kill him, while Henry claims he stabbed Jason in self-defense. Given 12 hours to find evidence against Henry, Marcella realises from the CCTV footage that May bit her kidnapper; a bite mark on Henry's shoulder confirms his guilt. Detective Williamson's investigation of Andrew Barnes' murder uncovers the possible involvement of Marcella's husband and previously doctored CCTV footage of the removal of Grace's body by Marcella.

References

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