Think of the biggest TV dramas of the past 20 years, and many of them will feature one man – Daniel Mays.
The Essex boy has popped up in the likes of EastEnders, Red Riding, Ashes to Ashes, Mrs Biggs and Line of Duty. He’s no slouch in the movie world either, having appeared in Vera Drake, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the Thursday Murder Club, among many others.
So when it’s announced that he’s taking a lead role in a new project, you really should sit up and take notice.
He’s no stranger to tackling real-life characters either, but he admits that playing London taxi cab driver and convicted serial sex offender John Worboys in new ITV drama Believe Me is his biggest challenge to date.
“It was a very isolating character to play, by its very nature,” said Mays.
“When I was announced to play him, I got this tirade from family and friends and work colleagues who can’t quite believe it, going, ‘Why would you want to play something like that?’ So, the challenge was to humanise him, really, and that was a very difficult and unsettling thing to take on.”
However, the result is a superb performance in a powerful drama that that won’t be easy viewing, but it’s one of the undoubted highlights of this TV week…
SERIES
Believe Me: ITV1, Sunday at 9pm
Compelling if uncomfortable drama retelling the story of the women who fought for justice after surviving being assaulted by John Worboys. He was later revealed to be one of Britain’s most prolific sex attackers, and yet, when they reported their experiences to members of the Metropolitan Police, the women felt that they were not believed. Worboys, whose job as a London black cab driver made him appear safe to single females simply looking for a lift home, is portrayed by Daniel Mays, while Aimee Ffion-Edwards and Aasiya Shah are the duo who bravely battled for his arrest and conviction, only to have to go through the nightmare all over again eight years later when he became eligible for parole.
DOCUMENTARY
999: Critical Condition: Five, Tuesday at 9pm
Cameras return to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital to document life on the frontline of one of the UK’s busiest trauma centres. The new series gets off to a dramatic start as the patients include Chris, who was working at a church when he fell from a scaffold, and was impaled on one of the flagpoles mounted to the interior wall. Paramedics rush him into resus, but the flagpole is still going into his thigh and through his scrotum, and one false move could prove fatal or leave him with life-changing injuries.
DOCUMENTARY
The Future with Hannah Fry: BBC2, Wednesday at 7.30pm
What does the future hold? Is it really possible to live in a world where cars fly, where computers can read our emotions, and where we order coffee from a robot? In this series, first available on Bloomberg in 2023, Professor Hannah Fry explores the science, technology and people on the cusp of some of the most transformative breakthroughs of our age. She begins by looking at the scientific, ethical and societal implications of extreme longevity and the logistical challenges of a world where people routinely live to 150. She joins bio-hackers in California, hears from those living a traditional, healthy life in Okinawa, Japan, and meets a neuroscientist along the streets of Tokyo to experience the latest age-defying techniques.
SERIES
Rivals: Disney+, from Friday
Book your spray tan appointment and iron your gingham gown, we’re heading back to the Cotswolds. It may be two years since the first series adapted from Jilly Cooper’s bestselling novel landed on our screens, but some of us are still coming to terms with how fabulously entertaining – not to mention raunchy – it was. Now it’s returning for a second run, with many of the cast – including Aidan Turner, Victoria Smurfit, David Tennant, Danny Dyer, Alex Hassell and Katherine Parkinson – returning to the fray. They will be joined by Hayley Atwell and Rupert Everett. As for the plot, it once again charts the battle for control of the Central South West television franchise in the 1980s. Tony Baddingham (Tennant) is more ruthless than ever – he will stop at nothing to dismantle the ambitions of his rivals, using all the dirty tricks he knows.
SERIES
Dutton Ranch: Paramount+, from Friday
When he first came up with the premise for Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan surely couldn’t have guessed that within eight years its universe would expand to include five different TV series, with another two on their way. The latest to hit our screens comes hot on the heels of Marshals, which debuted only a couple of months ago. Dutton Ranch sees Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser reprise their roles as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, who have left Yellowstone behind and are determined to create a new life for themselves in South Texas. However, it’s a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire because their new neighbours are just as ruthless and unforgiving as anybody they encountered in their past life.
