Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise’s Ralf Little set to lead thriller after quitting BBC series
Ralf Little's latest TV project has been unveiled, following his exit from BBC's Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise last year.
Ralf Little is set to star in a new Channel 4 thriller (Image: Getty)
Details of a new Channel 4 thriller have been unveiled, with former Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise star Ralf Little set to lead the cast. Hunting Alice Bell is an upcoming six-part psychological thriller created by David Baddiel with Peter Bradshaw, with all episodes directed by Paul Walker. Ralf, famed for portraying DI Neville Parker in Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise, will star as Graham Hunter in the series, along with Alex Roach, star of Nightsleeper, as Fran, and Sherlock’s Amanda Abbington playing Julie.
Elsewhere, MobLand favourite Emily Barber has
been cast as Vanessa, with God’s Creatures’ Toni O’Rourke playing Ros and Halo star Christina Bennington portraying Charlotte. Rudi Dharmalingam, star of The Lazarus Project, will play Nick, while Mission Impossible’s Simon Pegg takes on the role of Dr Jason Nash.
Ralf played DI Neville Parker in Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise (Image: BBC)
Hunting Alice Bell has been teased as a thriller “built around a whodunnit”, featuring plenty of family drama and social satire. Themes of misogyny and justice are explored, and the show is “stuffed with cliffhangers” as the characters look to find out who Alice Bell really is.
The full synopsis reads: “Alice Bell is a former nurse, and also the lover, and accomplice, of a notorious anaesthetist serial killer. She is presently living in Britain under a new identity. When, online, Fran Da Silva is accused of being Alice Bell, her happy family life implodes in a wave of mob hate.
“Then she discovers she’s not the only woman to suffer this fate. Fran and the other accused women band together to fight back and clear their names. But as they battle to prove their innocence, what if one of the group is lying – and is the real Alice Bell…?”
Co-creator and lead writer David Baddiel said: “The idea for Hunting Alice Bell was originally inspired by real cases of women in the UK becoming terrorised by the local population after suspicions start of them being various national hate figures, secretly living in the community.
“Over time it developed into a six part drama, and more focussed on the way that this kind of destructive rumour-mongering, which can incite riots and mob rage, is now intensified by social media.”
Amanda Abbington will star alongside Ralf in the TV drama (Image: Getty)
He added: “Technology has created a whole new spin on the idea of mistaken identity. We are told that in the present culture anyone can be who they want to be. But that also means that anyone can have who they are taken away from them: the hive mind can decide who you are. This happens to the five women in Hunting Alice Bell: in a world where identity is very fluid, they have lost control of theirs.”
Meanwhile, Rachel Gesua, producer at Clapperboard Studios, said: “Hunting Alice Bell is a story for our times, exploring what happens when the online mob come for a group of ordinary women and the devastating effect that can have. David, Peter and the writing team have created a bold and provocative drama, brimming with unforgettable characters and brought to life by the most extraordinary cast. We are thrilled to be working with the team at Channel 4 and Sphere Abacus on such a compelling drama.”
A release date for Hunting Alice Bell is yet to be announced.
