Drama series following three families who live in the same house, called Marchlands, in three different time periods.
The families’ stories are linked by the ghost of a young girl who drowned in a tragic accident in 1967. The impressive cast includes Alex Kingston, Anne Reid, Denis Lawson, Tessa Peake-Jones, Shelley Conn and Elliot Cowan.
In 1968, Ruth and Paul Bowen (Jodie Whittaker and Jamie Thomas King) live in remote house Marchlands with Paul’s oppressive parents Robert (Lawson) and Evelyn (Peake-Jones). Ruth and Paul’s daughter Alice (Millie Archer) recently drowned and Ruth is finding it impossible to move on – while Paul has issues of his own.
In 1987, Helen and Eddie Maynard (Kingston and Dean Andrews) try to ignore their daughter Amy (Sydney Wade)’s ‘imaginary friend’ Alice, until Amy reveals that Alice is dead. Helen begins to worry about her daughter – is Alice’s presence benign?
In 2010, Mark Ashburn (Cowan) returns to the village with his pregnant partner Nisha Parekh (Conn).
Marchlands was based on a US pilot called The Oaks. There was also a follow up series called Lightfields broadcast in 2013. This was basically the same storyline of a different families living in a haunted house but this time with a complete different cast.
Cast: Alex Kingston (Helen Maynard), Denis Lawson (Robert Bowen), Anne Reid (Ruth Bowen), Elliot Cowan (Mark Ashburn), Shelley Conn (Nisha Parekh), Jamie Thomas King (Paul Bowen), Jodie Whittaker (Ruth Bowen), Tessa Peake-Jones (Evelyn Bowen), Dean Andrews (Eddie Maynard), Daniel Casey (Scott Maynard), Sydney Wade (Amy Maynard), Elizabeth Rider (Olive Runcie), Nicholas Sidi (Father Boyle)
Creator: Dvid Schulner / Writer: Stephen Greenhorn / Producer: Chrissy Skinns / Director: James Kent
UK / ITV – 20th Century Fox Television – Gallowgate Productions / 5×50 minute episodes / Broadcast 3 February – 3 March 2011
