Sins of the father

The Silence of the Lambs meets Mindhunter in a twisted new thriller starring Michael Sheen

- RICHARD MCCLURE

After recent appearances in Quiz and Staged, Michael Sheen is back this week in his most chilling role yet – as a serial killer in new US drama Prodigal Son.

The actor plays Dr Martin Whitly, AKA The Surgeon, a brilliant Manhattan doctor incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital after committing 23 gruesome murders several years ago.

Meanwhile, his wife, Jessica (Scandal’s Bellamy Young), and two children, now adults, continue to deal with the psychological fallout from his crimes.

In this week’s opener, his criminal profiler son Malcolm (The Walking Dead’s Tom Payne) is recruited by a New York detective (Lou Diamond Phillips) to help solve ongoing murder cases in the city, using the insight from his father’s actions.