Chloe | Foreword by Alice Seabright (Writer & Director)

This is the story of Becky’s obsession with her estranged friend Chloe. When we meet Becky, it’s 15 years since they last spoke, but she still regularly lurks on Chloe’s social media page. Becky is socially isolated, taking care of a mother with dementia, and her only outlet is inventing fictional personas to create fleeting connections with strangers. She lives dangerously.

When she learns about Chloe’s death, Becky invents a new identity to infiltrate the group of friends left behind. Her actions cross ethical lines and challenge our sympathies, as she walks the tightrope of her lies. But I hope viewers will want her to succeed, even when they’re made uneasy by her actions and fear that her house of cards will collapse.

At her core, Becky Green is someone I think we can all relate to. Erin Doherty brings her to life in an extraordinary, layered performance. She is yearning for connection. She struggles with social anxiety and intrusive thoughts. She is self-reliant and pushes others away to mask her low self-worth, always anticipating rejection. She is obsessive. She is weird, and surprisingly funny. She’s grieving – the emotions conjured up by Chloe’s death echo the loss of their teenage friendship. Becky has loved fiercely and felt huge pain. She has grown a hard shell to protect herself.

All the characters in Chloe are flawed, and our exceptional cast have portrayed them in all their contradictions. I’m excited for viewers to see their layers peeled back during the series. Nothing is quite as it first seems. I empathise with every character, but each of them must be measured by the yardstick of their actions. We may squirm as we recognise our own demons in them.

One of the main themes we explore is identity. How it can be reflected in friendship, especially those formative friendships that feel like epic love stories. How it can be warped by social media, class, coercion, trauma… We look at the stories we tell ourselves – so often inaccurate and distorted. Stories about who we are, which can trap us in destructive patterns of behaviour. And stories about other people, which fuel our envy, insecurities and alienation.

Chloe is a strange and dark show, yet it also holds humour, fun, warmth and hope. Amidst the lies and artifice, our characters find connection – often in unexpected places and against all odds.