Doctor In Despair

David Tennant plays a trusty GP whose family die in a devastating house fire

- Rebecca Mahoney

David Tennant is choosing his words carefully while chatting to TV&Satellite Week about his chilling new thriller, Deadwater Fell, which begins on C4 this week.

‘It’s a really hard show to talk about, or even define,’ he says. ‘It has all the trappings of a crime thriller, but it’s not really that. It’s a psychological drama, but it’s more complex.’

Intrigued? You should be because this four-part thriller about a sleepy Scottish community rocked by tragedy is as gripping as it gets.

Set in the fictional village of Kirkdarroch, it follows well-liked GP Tom Kendrick (Tennant) and his wife, Kate (Anna Madeley), who teaches at the local primary school.

With an enviable marriage, three young daughters, a big house and fancy car, their lives seem perfect – especially to their two best friends, teaching assistant Jess Milner (Cush Jumbo) and her police sergeant partner, Steve (Matthew McNulty).

But after a fire breaks out at the Kendricks’ house, Kate and her children are found dead, and Tom is rushed to hospital as the sole survivor. As details about Kate and the girls’ deaths come to light, mistrust soon creeps into the close-knit village, where it seems everyone has something to hide.