If you liked Apple Tree Yard, the BBC’s latest thriller The Replacement starring Vicky McClure and Morven Christie looks set to chill us all to the bone as well.
The latest three-part psychological thriller is set in Glasgow and written by Joe Ahearne. It follows a woman who’s paranoid her identity is being taken away from her when she goes on maternity leave.
Christie plays Ellen who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after landing her architects firm a massive contract. Career-focused, she plans to be away for just the shortest time and hires Paula (McClure) to cover for her while she’s away.
It all seems to be going brilliantly at first, Paula is enthusiastic, friendly and efficient. But then she starts to become too efficient, too friendly, and too good.
As she starts to move in on Ellen’s job, her clients and even her friends, only Ellen can see her subtle manipulations. As everyone, including her husband, thinks Ellen is paranoid, especially because she’s pregnant, Ellen faces a battle to prove she’s not imagining Paula’s strange behaviour.
When a terrible accident strikes the firm, Ellen refuses to believe the police verdict and goes on a mission to prove who was responsible – with chilling consequences.
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Vicky McClure is best known for for her role as fearless DC Kate Fleming in hit drama Line of Duty, and Morven Christie is currently starring alongside Robson Green and James Norton in Grantchester.
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Teasing us about what we can expect from the drama, writer Ahearne said:
“I like stories about paranoia where our main character is the only one who can see what’s going on while everyone around them thinks they’re going crazy.”
He continued, “Most of us have the secret fear that we’re not good enough and feel envy when we see others navigating professional and social situations more suavely than we think we can manage.
“The Replacement turns that up to 11. The fact it’s a pregnant woman going through this intensifies the dilemma.
“Women get attacked from every side when they make decisions about how to manage the change in their life. Whatever decision they make is challenged and dissected. It’s the perfect landscape for paranoia and suspense.”
It sounds intriguing, scary and right up our street. We can’t wait for it to start.