‘Everyone's living A LIE...'

Jonas Armstrong and Jill Halfpenny on why their thriller is not to be trusted

- Caren Clark

A missing child is every parent’s worst nightmare. But how would you react if, years later, you thought you saw your beloved son walking down the street?

This is the compelling set-up of Channel 5’s new four-part thriller The Drowning, which stars Jill Halfpenny (Liar, Dark Money) as troubled gardener Jodie, whose life was shattered by the disappearance of her four-year-old, Tom, during a family day out at a lake.

Some nine years on, Jodie spots a teenager, Daniel (newcomer Cody Molko), catching his school bus and becomes convinced that he is her lost son, to the bewilderment of her friends and family, including her lawyer brother Jason, played by Jonas Armstrong (The Bay).

As Jodie goes to dangerous lengths to prove that Daniel is Tom, she wheedles her way into the life he shares with his single father Mark (Whitechapel’s Rupert Penry-Jones). But is her maternal instinct correct?

TV Times joined Jill, 45, and Jonas, 40, for an exclusive video interview after they finished filming the series on location in Ireland to find out more...

How would you describe your characters?

JILL: Jodie’s complex and has been piecing herself back together. There’s lots going on inside that she feels no one will understand. And her family is tricky. They were all at the lake that day, but Jodie’s dad blamed her for Tom going missing, and she and her mum, Lynn, [played by The Split’s Deborah Findlay] have never had a brilliant relationship.

JONAS: Jason’s lovely. He’s close to his sister, driven in his career and a good guy. Tom’s disappearance had a huge impact on everybody and Jason understands Jodie’s trauma. But there are twists and turns…