PRISONER of the past

ODESSA YOUNG and JACOB ELORDI on a sweeping drama exploring the power of love under the harshest circumstances

- SEAN MARLAND

A powerful but forbidden love story that unfolds through the darkest of times is at the heart of new BBC1 epic The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Inspired by Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning 2013 novel of the same name, the drama centres around Australian surgeon and reluctant war hero Dorrigo Evans - played by Jacob Elordi as a young man, with Kin star Ciarán Hinds portraying an older version of the character.

The five-parter takes place within three interwoven timelines. The early 1940s find army medic Dorrigo, who is engaged to future wife Ella (played by Olivia DeJonge, and then later by Heather Mitchell), embarking on a passionate affair with his uncle’s much younger spouse, Amy Mulvaney (Odessa Young).

Meanwhile, after being deployed to help with the war effort, his experiences of being held captive in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp are depicted. Finally, the 1980s find him reflecting on the moments that have shaped his life.

'There's an inherent stoic selfishness to Dorrigo,' notes Jacob, whose credits include US teen drama