Hartlepool actor Lewis Cope returns to the screen in Channel 5 adaptation of Graham Norton thriller
Hartlepool actor Lewis Cope is hitting TV screens again with a starring role in a new Channel 5 drama.
The former Emmerdale and Strictly Come Dancing star has landed another high-profile role and is one of the cast of new thriller series Forever Home.
It is a six-part adaptation of presenter Graham Norton’s best-selling novel of the same name and follows Carol Crottie, a divorcee living with her new partner.
But when she discovers a long-dead body hidden in the basement of their home, she realises she is sharing her life with a killer.
Originally set in a small Irish town, the story has been moved to Northumberland for TV.
It stars Downton Abbey actress Amy Nuttall as Carol, The Revenge Club’s Douglas Henshall as her older partner, Robert Barrie, Lewis as his son Kaden, and fellow North East actors Denise Welch and Kevin Whately.
Lewis, 31, who impressed on last year’s Strictly Come Dancing, says he loved that the series was set in the North East, being from Hartlepool.
“Obviously, the original was set in Cork, wasn’t it? And then the adaptation was set in Northumberland,” he said.
“But I don’t think it necessarily needs to be location-specific, because the drama is very much about family dynamics, which could be anywhere in the world.
“I think you could almost pick it up and put it anywhere, and you could take it to any sort of timeline as well.
“Sometimes it actually looks quite period. I remember watching episode one and thinking, because it is set in the present day, that it almost could be from any time or any place.
“And being from the North East, it was great to be back there and filming, and hopefully there’s a lot more stuff getting made in the North East, too.”
He and other cast members attended an advance screening and Q&A at Newcastle’s Tyneside Cinema.
Forever Home is a FilmNation/The Mediapro Studio Production for 5 supported by the North East Production Fund delivered by North East Screen which has offices in Hartlepool and Sunderland.
The first episode airs on Channel 5 on Monday, September 14.