Channel 4 has set the cast for The Light. Joanna Scanlan (Getting On), Sidse Babett Knudsen (Westworld), Mark Lewis Jones (Keeping Faith), Genevieve Barr (Press) are set to star opposite Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley) in the four-part drama from Jack Thorne.
The Light is set in the fictional Welsh town of Glyngolau and explores a forgotten community devastated by disaster. An explosion on the construction site of a much-needed and sought-after regeneration project in this “left-behind” town claims the lives of many children who have broken into the building site to make mischief.
The four-parter follows Polly Bevan (Lancashire), the wife of the local politician who championed the project. Their rebellious daughter, Leona, had led a group of friends who broke onto the site on the day of the explosion, but now is left with a lifelong disability after the disaster. As communal grief gives way to a torrent of anger and blame, the community finds itself torn apart. Unwilling accept that their children were to blame, the families cry for justice. It falls to Polly to hold the community together, and to face the challenging truths that begin to emerge.
Joanna Scanlan has been cast as Angela Griffiths, who lost her daughter in the accident; Sidse Babett Knudsen as Harriet Paulsen, the executive at Kallbridge Developments which has overseen the project in Glyngolau; Mark Lewis Jones as Councillor Iwan Bevan, Polly’s husband; Genevieve Barr as Debbie Kethin, whose husband, who died in the disaster, was responsible for site security. Rounding out the cast is Jade Croot (Casualty), Nabhaan Rizwan (Informer), Eiry Thomas (Rillington Place), Shaun Parkes (Line Of Duty) Adrian Scarborough (Killing Eve) and Ruth Madeley (Years And Years).
The Light is the third and final entry in a trilogy of Jack Thorne dramas for Channel 4, following in the footsteps of both National Treasure and Kiri. Thorne penned the scripts for The Light, which is set up at independent production company The Forge. Morenike Williams is the series producer, while Sandra Goldbacher is attached to direct. The executive producers are George Ormond and George Faber. Hulu are co-producing and will air the series in the United States. Production is now underway on location in Wales.
