Kelly Reilly stars as newly promoted DI Anna Travis in a third three-part series of Above Suspicion starting on ITV on Monday January 3, 2011 for three consecutive nights. Adapted from Lynda La Plante’s fourth novel in her best selling series about the rookie detective, “Deadly Intent” also sees the return of Ciarán Hinds as Detective Chief Superintendent James Langton.
Following a fatal shooting at a drug dealer’s squat, the murder team, headed by DCI Mike Lewis, identify the victim as Frank Brandon – an ex-police officer from the drug squad, and friend of James Langton. The team try to connect the presence of their ex-colleague in such desperate and squalid surroundings.
“The key thing about Travis is her speed and how she trusts her gut instinct,” said Kelly Reilly in the official ITV press release. “This year she gets into trouble for working on her own because she seems to be one-step ahead of everybody else. She’s not particularly a great team player but she is somebody great to have on your team. She doesn’t always report back what’s going on when she goes off on her own little detective hunts. She’s a bit of a wild card in that respect. Travis is not your typical police officer; she doesn’t try to people please, and for me, that’s what makes her different.”
The Actors in Above Suspicion
Kelly Reilly’s first TV acting job was as Polly Henry in Prime Suspect: Inner Circles in 1995. The following year, she played Kimberley in the Ruth Rendell Mysteries and the year after Nancy Miller in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. She took on the role of Anna Travis in the original Above Suspicion TV movie in 2009 and reprised it in the “The Red Dahlia” in 2010.
Irish actor Ciarán Hinds’ career dates back to 1981 but his first role of note was as Cory in The Cook the Thief His Wife and Her Lover in 1989. He starred as John Stacey in Seaforth in 1994, as Fyodor in Cold Lazarus in 1996 and as Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre in 1997. More recently, he played Gaius Julius Caesar in the TV series Rome and is due to appear as Aberforth Dumbledore in Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows Part Two.
Kelly Reilly and Ciarán Hinds are joined by Shaun Dingwall (Rock & Chips and Moses Jones) as Detective Chief Inspector Mike Lewis, who will be heading up his first murder case, Celyn Jones (Law & Order: UK) as Detective Sergeant Paul Barolli and Amanda Lawrence (Little Dorrit) as Joan Faukland.
Guest stars in the new series include Ray Fearon (Raw and Missing), Robbie Gee (The Fixer and Murphy’s Law), Andrew Woodall (Place of Execution and Lawless), Julian Sands (The Good Life and Assisting Venus) and Richard Brake (Outpost and Halloween II) as well as Danish actresses Stine Stengade and Benedikte Hansen.
The Team Behind Above Suspicion
Above Suspicion “Deadly Intent” is a La Plante Production for ITV. The executive producers are Lynda La Plante and Liz Thorburn. The producer is Hugh Warren and the director is Gillies MacKinnon.
Laura Mackie, director of ITV drama commissioning, said in the ITV press release: “We are delighted to be working with La Plante Productions on another run of Above Suspicion which has established itself as a strong returning franchise for ITV1.”
The Career of Lynda La Plante
Probably best known for the writer behind the Prime Suspect television series, Lynda La Plante has written six Anna Travis novels, the latest of which Blind Fury was published in June 2010. The other five are called Red Dahlia, Above Suspicion, Clean Cut, Deadly Intent and Silent Scream.
“DI Travis and DCS Langton are back together to investigate the death of a former colleague and friend of Langton’s in dreadful circumstances,” said Lynda La Plante in the ITV release. “It’s very exciting that Kelly and Ciarán are reunited to bring both characters back for a third season with an adaptation of my fourth novel in the series with of course the tremendous continued support of Laura Mackie and Peter Fincham at ITV. I hope the audience continues to enjoy my latest instalment.”
Before her marriage, when she was called Lynda Marchal, she also worked as an actress in Z-Cars, The Sweeney, The Professionals, Bergerac and Rentaghost.
She formed her own television production company, La Plante Productions, in 1994. In 2008, she was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. The following year, she was honoured at the Cologne Conference International Film & Television Festival with the TV Spielfilm Award for her television adaptation of Above Suspicion. The same month she was inaugurated into the Crime Thriller Writers’ Hall of Fame.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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