A NEW BBC series will see a former Strictly Come Dancing winner join up with some of TV’s best to bring a thriller to life on screen.
Rose Ayling-Ellis, who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, is to star in new BBC series Reunion.
Rose Ayling-Ellis stars in the bilingual BSL and English drama series Reunion on BBC[/caption]
Reunion also stars matthew Gurney as the lead character Daniel Brennan[/caption]
The new series will run across four episodes and also stars Matthew Gurney, Lara Peake, Anne-Marie Duff and Eddie Marsan.
The new Northern drama is set across Sheffield and the Peak District, and is written by Sheffield-born deaf writer William Mager.
Reunion is a bilingual series filmed in and around Sheffield featuring both British Sign Language (BSL) and spoken English.
Reunion is described as ‘an emotional thriller of revenge and redemption’ following the journey of Daniel Brennan, played by Matthew Gurney (Name Me Lawand, Theatre Ad Infinium.
Brennan is a deaf man determined to right his wrongs while unravelling the truth behind the events that led him to prison.
Across the four episodes, Brennan embodies the struggle of a man caught between two worlds, unable to fully integrate into the hearing world and shunned by his closest friends and the wider deaf community following his heinous crime.
The series explores his isolation, and his relationship with his estranged daughter Carly, played by Lara Peake (How to Have Sex, Rivals), who he has not had any contact with since his arrest over a decade ago.
Anne-Marie Duff, who is known for her roles including Shameless, Bad Sisters and The Salisbury Poisonings, stars as Christine, desperate to find Brennan and get to the full truth behind what he did.
Eddie Marsan as Stephen Renworth (Back to Black, Ray Donovan), Christine’s protective boyfriend, while Rose Ayling-Ellis (Summer of Rockets, As You Like It) plays Christine’s daughter, Miri.
Discussing the new BBC series, star Matthew Gurney said: “Reunion is an amazing storyline and is completely different from my previous work.
“My character Brennan is on a wildly different journey than that portrayed by normal deaf lives, this portrays a man who is hated within the deaf community.
“It shows how deaf people react and act on screen in an honest and authentic way. We are different to hearing actors, we are so much more visual storytellers, it’s not about relying on sound it’s about using your eyes and seeing what is going on in the story.”
Lara Peake, playing his on-screen daughter, added: “There’s so much in Reunion that people can relate to from the relationships and storyline to what it feels like to be isolated from a community and welcomed into a community.
“To be able to watch a show that is led by deaf actors is incredible and the inclusion of sign language is not seen often enough.
“It’s a real opportunity to learn and become fascinated and immersed in that world.”
Reunion is coming soon to BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
Anne-Marie Duff and Eddie Marsan head up the cast in new thriller series Reunion[/caption]
The four part BBC series also features Lara Peake, who starred in Disney+’s Rivals last year[/caption]
The new BBC series is dual language featuring BSL heavily[/caption]
