BLACKOUT

UK / BBC1 – Red Productions / 3×60 minute episodes / AIRDATE: 2012

Writer: Bill Gallagher / Producer: Matthew Bird / Executive Producer: Piers Wenger, Christopher Aird, Nicola Shindler

Strong three part drama with an equally strong central performance from the ever reliable Christopher Eccleston as a corrupt councillor who gets well out of his depth.

Councillor Daniel Demoys is a mess. He’s drinking so much he’s having blackouts. He has also been passing council contract details to businessman Henry Pulis.

When a row between the pair gets out of hand, an alcohol-fuelled Daniel beats Pulis brutally, leaving him in a coma. Desperate for help, Daniel seeks out his sister Lucy, a lawyer.

Lucy is representing Nelson Venner, a young man speaking out against drug gangs. Lucy and Venner are giving a press statement when a car slows and a gun appears from the window. Daniel impulsively throws himself in front of Venner, taking the bullet.

When Daniel wakes in hospital, he is unaware his impulsive act is all over the news, and a nurse, Donna, explains he’s being lauded as a hero. Daniel is lucky to have cheated death. It’s a wake-up call. Maybe he has a chance to be a better man.

Elsewhere, Henry Pulis lies in intensive care. Daniel is wracked with guilt and desperate to pay for his sins.

When political consultant Jerry Durrans visits Daniel to suggest he could be a viable candidate in the city’s first mayoral election, Daniel is sceptical. Yet the seed of an idea has been planted and he has been set on the unlikely path to being elected his city’s first political mayor. But Daniel remains a man with the blackest of secrets, desperate to make a stab at redemption.

Blackout originally went under the working title of The Fuse and was initially planned to be a five parter.

cast
Christopher Eccleston as Daniel Demoys
Dervla Kirwan as Alex Demoys
Ewen Bremner as Jerry Durrans
Rebecca Callard as Ruth Pulis
MyAnna Buring as Sylvie
Branka Katic as Donna
Andrew Scott as Dalien Bevan
David Hayman as Henry Pulis
Lyndsey Marshal as Lucy Demoys
Olivia Cooke as Meg Demoys
Danny Sapani is Detective Griffin

THE EPISODES
1. EPISODE 1 (2 July 2012)
2. EPISODE 2 (9 July 2012)
3. EPISODE 3 (16 July 2012)

Source: BBC Media Release