TV Highlight AND TRAILER: Anna Friel returns as Marcella

Marcella, Monday, 9pm, ITV
Anna Friel is Marcella.Anna Friel is Marcella.
Anna Friel is Marcella.

Multi-layered ITV crime drama series Marcella, written by internationally renowned screenwriter and novelist Hans Rosenfeldt (The Bridge) and starring International Emmy award winning Anna Friel returns.

The eight-part series is once again set in contemporary London and unfolds in the unique style of Rosenfeldt’s Nordic style. Interweaving storylines and characters from all different walks of life and backgrounds will lead us on a complex and emotional journey and keep us guessing until the very end.

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The story begins with the discovery of a body inside a wall, clothed in a school blazer and surrounded by soft toys. A devastated Marcella soon works out that the body is that of schoolboy Leo Priestley, who was abducted a few years beforehand and a friend of Marcella’s son, Edward.

A task-force is quickly pulled together by newly promoted DCI, Tim and we are introduced to a new member of the team, LeAnn. As the investigation progresses, we’re introduced to a number of new characters – a former famous musician Reg and his manager and friend Alan; edgy businessman Vince Whitman and his charity boss wife Maya; a previously convicted criminal Phil Dawkins; sister and brother Gail and Eric; and Becky, the new girlfriend of Marcella’s ex-husband.

We caught up with Anna Friel...

Can you explain to us where we find Marcella at the start of the second series?

We join the second series a few months on from where the first series ended. Marcella seems to be slightly more settled in the sense that she hasn’t had a fugue for a while but of course, in the world of Marcella, her security doesn’t last very long and she’s back off down the road of uncertainty and unsettlement.

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How is the relationship with Jason and her children at the beginning of the series?

It’s not great to be honest. She’s really struggling with them and trying to make amends. Jason has moved in with his new girlfriend Becky who is a lot younger than Marcella, it’s a big slam to her ego. The children are staying with Jason and that’s really upsetting. When it comes down to it, they have chosen him over her and that’s a massive kick in the guts.

Do you think viewers can relate to Marcella as a person and indeed the series?

I think the first series was, and indeed the second series is very relevant and prevalent and touches on issues that are very much in the public domain. I do think women are feeling very empowered at the moment and having a woman who is dealing with a mental illness, whilst working, being a single mum and trying to keep everything afloat is very relatable at the moment. I am so proud of the show and thankfully the viewers in the UK and around the world seem to also really love it. I think people love the element of being frightened and made to jump. It’s not just a thriller, because it’s so much more than that. I think this series pushes the boundaries even more… and it had too. A second series can’t just be as good as the first, it needs to be better and take it to the next level and I really believe with this new series that we have done that. I hope the viewers agree!