Emilia Fox and Charles Dance in Fallen Angel

ITV1 Network | Sunday 11 - Tuesday 13 March 2007 @ 9.00pm

Charles Dance and Emilia Fox head the cast of Fallen Angel, an epic new drama trilogy for ITV produced by IWC Media.

In a departure from conventional crime drama this is an investigation conducted by those close to the criminal rather than by the police - a whydunnit rather than usual whodunnit. Based on The Roth Trilogy of novels by award-winning crime writer Andrew Taylor and adapted by Peter Ransley, it is the story of the making of a murderer, told in reverse starting with the modern day.

Like an archaeological dig, each of the films strips away the layers of a sociopath’s history, hurtling backwards in time to show us how and when her mind became twisted, and her soul sick.

Fallen Angel reunites Emilia Fox (Born Equal, Silent Witness) as the beautiful, murderer Rosemary, with Charles Dance (Bleak House, Fingersmith), first seen together in 1997 in ITV’s Rebecca.

It also stars Clare Holman (Lewis, Marple) as Wendy, a woman whose granddaughter Lucy is abducted in the present by a woman known only as Angel. By rewinding back in time, we ultimately discover that Wendy is motivated by guilt to help unmask the killer, her real identity, and her motives.

Also starring Sheila Hancock (After Thomas, Bleak House), Mark Benton (Booze Cruise, Northern Lights), Niamh Cusack (Too Good to be True, Loving You). Emma Fielding (Ghost Squad, Beneath the Skin), James D’Arcy (Mansfield Park, Master and Commander) and Claudie Blakely (Vital Signs, Dirty Filthy Love).

Executive producer Eileen Quinn says: Like all good ideas, the concept is very simple – it’s the story of a murderer told backwards.

There is never a question as to whodunit in any of these films, but rather whydunnit is fully explored. This format breaks new ground with its rewind form. I think it’s a welcome and fresh alternative. In a world where we read daily news of terrible stories of crime and their twisted perpetrators, I don’t think it’s enough to just make drama which fictionalises or recreates the tragedies we see around us – more and more the general public is asking WHY?

Eileen continues: Religion is central to the plot, although I would describe Fallen Angel as a family story rather than a religious thriller. There is a pertinent line in Film One where Wendy, Clare Holman’s character, tells her son religious fanatics justify anything and everything with their texts, and this is part of the key to Angel’s behaviour. As a child she was exposed to the strength and graphic violence of religious stories and imagery; as a teen she came upon the warped texts of the rogue priest Youlgreave – all of this proved a deadly cocktail for her.

Fallen Angel is written by Peter Ransley (A Good Murder, Fingersmith) and directed by David Drury (Love Lies Bleeding, Marian Again). The executive producer is IWC’s Head of Drama, Eileen Quinn (Alibi, State of Mind) and the producer is Dave Edwards (Coming Up, Bait). It is an IWC Media production for ITV, and a co-production with Alucard Films.

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