Thursday, May 21, 2015

All-Star Cast Populates 'The Town' In Exclusive Southern NE Engagement on Rhode Island PBS


Sherlock star Andrew Scott headlines a new three-part contemporary drama called The Town. Scott stars alongside an outstanding ensemble cast, including Martin Clunes (Doc Martin), Julia McKenzie (Miss Marple), Charlotte Riley (DCI Banks), Gerard Kearns (Shameless) and Kelly Adams (Holby City).

Scott, who recently won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for his portrayal of Holmes’ nemesis Moriarty, plays Mark Nicholas, a man who returns home to the fictional town of Renton following the joint suicide of his parents. After having been away for ten years, however, Nicholas struggles to reconnect with those he had left behind – including his family, friends, and former sweetheart, who is now married with a child. McKenzie plays his grandmother, Betty; Riley is his first love, Alice; and Clunes is the town’s alcohol-soaked mayor, Len.

The Town is written by award-winning playwright Mike Bartlett and produced by Big Talk Productions, the company behind Rev, Friday Night Dinner and Him & Her.

Fans of David Lynch’s ‘90s drama, Twin Peaks may find a similar quirkiness. Renton, however, is spookier than Twin Peaks, although filled with as many secrets.

“Often those closest to us hide their problems,” explained the mysterious Inspector Franks (Douglas Hodge) when Mark suggested that his parents might have been murdered.

The atmosphere of menace and melancholy never dissipates, and Bartlett is brilliant at showing how shock reveals the weirdness of normality.

In an exclusive southern New England engagement, Rhode Island PBS presents all three parts of The Town back-to-back on Friday night, June 19 starting at 8:30 p.m.