C4's new "psychological suspense drama", Close To Me, is already getting fans "hooked".
Based on the novel by Amanda Reynolds, the six-part series tells the story of a woman who finds an entire year disappearing from her memory. Yet this isn't a drama about the boredom of last year's lockdown!
Here's everything you need to know about the drama...
When is 'Close To Me' on Channel 4?
Close To Me began on Channel 4 on Sunday, Nov. 7. The entire six-part series is now available on All4 to enjoy now!
What's the plot of 'Close To Me'?
A synopsis reads: "The six-part series tells the story of Jo Harding, a woman who seems to have it all — a beautiful house in the country, a loving family and Rob, her devoted husband. But following a fall, an entire year suddenly vanishes from Jo’s memory. As she struggles to piece events together, Jo discovers that her life wasn’t quite as perfect as she imagined — and that someone will do all they can to keep a terrible secret from her!"
Connie Nielsen, who plays Jo, tells us: "I loved this story from the beginning as the idea of identity — and how our memories affect that — fascinated me. Are we our memories? Jo loses some of her memories. But she also starts recovering other ones that she had repressed for many years, which indicates that she's not who she thought she was. It’s a conundrum about who we are and physically and mentally, makes us us!"
What happens in the first episode?
Close To Me opens with dramatic scenes, after Jo Harding (Connie Nielsen) is found lying at the bottom of the stairs, covered in blood and bruises.
Her concerned husband Rob (Christopher Eccleston) rushes her to hospital, where it’s revealed she’s suffered memory loss due to head trauma. She’s forgotten the events of the past year, and becomes confused when Rob explains their son has gone to university.
Jo struggles upon returning to their home, becoming distressed when she sees the staircase covered in blood, and getting spooked when she believes she heard someone else in the house. She also gets angry with Rob after he lied about her dog dying, and is also trying to learn more about their two adult children Finn (Tom Taylor) and Sash (Rosy McEwen), finding out that she helped Sash move out of a bedsit and that she has met her new boyfriend Thomas.
Jo asks Rob if they can talk about the accident, but he brushes it off by saying it was an "awful accident" and the main thing is that she’s home. He tells her that Is he hiding something serious from his wife?
Jo even accuses both Rob and Sash of lying to her, before she becomes angry that she’s lost her phone. She later hears Sash and Rob arguing about the incident, where Rob tells his daughter that Jo doesn’t need to hear “everything” right now, but she’s still no further forward to learning if her family are keeping secrets from her.
During her recovery, Jo is also forced to learn more about herself and the changes she’d gone through over the past year, such as switching up her style and going through the menopause, which results in hot flushes throughout the episode.
So she’s confused about her sense of self as well as what happened to her on that fateful day when she fell down the stairs. She’s had flashes of memories but nothing concrete, triggered by certain songs and locations. Right now, nothing is clear and she’s not able to take much from these recovered memories. Jo also tries to reconnect with best friend Cathy (Susan Lynch) after learning they’d had an argument, though at this point it’s unclear what the two women had fallen out over.
The two try to carry on their friendship despite this, with Jo currently blissfully unaware they’d even fallen out. It’s a frustrating situation and so far, everyone around her could be suspicious.
Who's in the 'Close To Me' cast?
Connie Nielsen (Gladiator, Justice League) leads the cast as Jo Harding, a Danish mum of two who works as a translator, while former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston plays her devoted husband Rob.
Their children, Finn and Sash, are played by Tom Taylor (Us, Doctor Foster) and Rosy McEwen (The Letter Writer, The Angel of Darkness), while Jo’s best friend Cathy is played by Susan Lynch (Save Me, Unforgotten) and Leanne Best (Young Wallander, Cold Feet) stars as Rob’s co-worker Anna.
High-profile Danish actor Henning Jensen (When the Dust Settles, Countdown Copenhagen) features as Jo’s father Frederik, while Ellie Haddington (Enola Holmes, Motherland) plays her neighbour Wendy.
Ray Fearon (Da Vinci’s Demons, His Dark Materials) plays Jo’s boss Nick and Nick Blood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Strike) stars as Sash’s boyfriend Thomas. Jamie Flatters (Liar, So Awkward) plays Owen and Lorraine Burroughs (Hard Sun, The Five) stars as Helen.
Is there a 'Close To Me' trailer?
There sure is, check it out below...
