5 has announced that BAFTA-winning actress Joanna Scanlan (Slow Horses, A Very Royal Scandal) will lead the cast of upcoming five-part thriller Missed Call (w/t). The series is produced by Paris and London based production company Pernel Media, in association with ITV Studios.
Scanlan is joined by an ensemble cast including Claire Keim (Vise le Coeur, Menace sur Kermadec) Rupert Graves (Sherlock, The Burning Girls ), François-Xavier Demaison (Disparue, Le Négociateur) and BAFTA winning actor Robert Lindsay (Sherwood, Generation Z).
Set against the backdrop of a picturesque French village, Missed Call follows single mother Sarah, whose world is upended after receiving a late-night missed call from her teenage daughter, Katie, while she’s on a school exchange. When Sarah arrives in France, she finds the host family and local authorities disturbingly indifferent to Katie’s disappearance. As Sarah refuses to accept their complacency, her search for her daughter spirals into a gripping and dangerous race against time.
Commissioned by Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer, Paramount UK, and Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, 5, Missed Call marks the second collaboration of 5 and Pernel Media after the success of The Au Pair earlier this year.
Joanna Scanlan commented: “The script for Missed Call gripped me from the first page, it’s a powerful story about every mother’s worst fear, set in a place that’s stunningly beautiful but weirdly unsettling. Sarah is a complex, vibrant and determined woman, and I’m hugely excited to bring her to life in this tense and emotional thriller. It’s a real pleasure to be working with Channel 5 on such a bold and compelling piece of drama”.
Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, 5 said: “Missed Call is an emotionally charged thriller that brings together a phenomenal international cast and a compelling story of maternal determination and cultural clash”. Samuel Kissous, President of Pernel Media, added: “We have attracted world class talents with two BAFTA winning actors and a roster of French and international stars. We are also delighted to be working with first class partners such as 5, ITV Studios and TF1 Group.”
Missed Call (w/t) (5 x60) was commissioned by Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer, Paramount UK, and Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, 5. Samuel Kissous, President of Pernel Media is executive producing. The series was written by lead writer and co-creator Matthew Thomas, as well as Sally Abbott (Vera) and Paul Matthew Thompson (Shakespeare and Hathaway, Good Ship Murder) and directed by Sheree Folkson (Bridgerton, Our House, Will Trent). International Distribution is handled by ITV Studios with Group TF1 having pre-bought the series in France.
Jon Creamer
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