Stealing for love

Amanda Abbington plots a daring bank heist to save her son from a violent gangster

- HANNAH DAVIES

Rowan

Amanda Abbington

When her teenage son is threatened following a drug deal gone wrong, Rowan takes drastic action to rob the bank where she works to pay off a local crime boss.

NEW DRAMA

Desperate Measures

Tuesday-Friday, 9pm, Channel 5

There are echoes of crime caper Ocean’s Eleven as Sherlock actor Amanda Abbington and Luther’s Warren Brown join forces to stage a risky bank heist in Channel 5 thriller Desperate Measures.

Abbington plays single mum Rowan, a diligent bank clerk in Manchester, whose life spirals out of control when her teenage son Finn (newcomer Jesse CescattiMcFarlane) is coerced into a botched drug deal on their lawless estate.

With Finn’s life in danger unless a desperate Rowan can pay back the cash that was lost, things take a rather far-fetched turn as Rowan hooks up with her career-criminal ex Patrick (Brown) to carry out a heist at her city-centre bank.