Hidden (BBC-1 2012, Philip Glenister, Thekla Reuten)

Philip Glenister and film star Thekla Reuten lead the cast in Hidden, a taut and gripping four-part conspiracy thriller, made by Origin Pictures for BBC One.

Written and created by Ronan Bennett (Michael Man’s Public Enemies, The Hamburg Cell, Face) in collaboration with Walter Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven, The Money Trap, Fail Safe), Hidden revolves around the efforts of Harry Venn (Glenister), a small-time solicitor who is forced to delve into his murky past.

When a mysterious lawyer Gina Hawkes (Reuten) turns up asking Harry to find a missing alibi witness for her client he agrees to take on the job but is unwittingly drawn into investigating the death of his brother 20 years ago. Harry quickly finds himself caught up in a much bigger and more complex conspiracy.

Hidden was filmed on location in Belfast.

Speaking about the dynamic between Harry and the mysterious Gina, Glenister said: “Well it starts off from Harry’s point of view, he doesn’t know anything about Gina – he doesn’t know where she’s come from and the fact that she seems to know so much about him kind of freaks him out.

Initially he kind of dismisses her but then she mentions his brother, and a name from the past that he thinks only he and his mate and his ex wife know about. For this stranger to suddenly have this information freaks him.

He has no choice but to pursue Gina and find out exactly what’s going on, he follows her to Paris and she’s not giving anything away.

Their relationship starts off with massive distrust and Harry’s not sure if she’s working against him or for an organisation, it’s only through trial and perseverance that they begin to get anywhere and then from that point, when their lives are threatened and somebody from the past enters their lives, that’s when they start having to work together to try and save themselves and try to find out what’s been going on and how they’re involved.”

Meanwhile Gina herself spoke about her favourite scenes: “There were a couple – being chased in the warehouse was great, it was fun – it was a bit of a competition between me and the camera team because I was trying to out run them to make the scene really fast.

It was a really incredible location – this totally worn down and overgrown warehouse, with mould everywhere and nails sticking out of the wood! It was great to have an action scene.

The other scene I really enjoyed was Gina’s confrontation with Sir Nigel Fountain – she finally knows what has happened and it’s very emotional. I really enjoyed doing that with David. All the scenes between these two characters were completed in 2 or 3 days, so it was quite an intense journey.

I enjoyed all my scenes with Phil! But I guess especially the bar scene in the beginning.”

production details
UK / BBC One – Origin Pictures / 4×60 minute episodes / Broadcast 2012

Writers: Ronan Bennett, Walter Bernstein / Executive Producer: Stephen Wright, David Thompson, Ed Rubin / Producer: Christopher Hall / Director: Niall MacCormick

cast
Philip Glenister as Harry Venn
Thekla Reuten as Gina Hawkes
David Suchet as Sir Nigel Fountain
Anna Chancellor as Elspeth Verney
Bertie Carvel as Alexander Whitworth
Richard Dormer as Frank Hanna
Mark Powley as Mark Venn
Peter Guinness as Jason Styles
Benjamin Smith as Matt
Matthew Marsh as James Morpeth
Paul Ritter as Stevie Quirke
Thomas Craig as DS/DI Fenton Russell