North Shore: release date, cast, plot, trailer, more

(Image credit: Beach Road Pictures/ITV)

North Shore is a new murder mystery set in Australia around Sydney Harbour, starring Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt.

Created by Mike Bullen (Cold Feet), the plot follows a British and an Australian detective, forced to work together to solve the complex murder of a UK politician's daughter in Sydney. "It's a gripping story, with fantastically complex characters," promises Joanne. "I loved Mike's script, I've wanted to work with him for a long time. And I was fascinated by the character of Abigail and how she behaves.

"Plus, Sydney's one of my favorite places in the world — I was thrilled to work there!"

Here's everything we know about the six-part thriller…

North Shore release date

North Shore is released on ITV1 on Saturday, January 4 at 9.30 pm. It is already available on ITVX as a box set.

North Shore plot

Dan Spielman as Simon and Joanne Froggatt as Abigail in North Shore — Simon and Abigail get terrible news (Image credit: Beach Road Pictures/ITV)

UK Trade Minister Abigail Crawford (Joanne Froggatt) is in the middle of negotiating an important deal between Britain and Australia when she hears the devastating news that her 19-year-old daughter, Sophie Chalcott (Domina's Bailey Spalding), has been found dead near Sydney Harbour. London-based DS Max Drummond (Game of Thrones actor John Bradley) is invited to help crack the high-profile case and flies from the city to Sydney along with grieving Abigail and her husband, Simon Chalcott (The Newsreader star Dan Spielman).

However, Max receives an icy reception from DS Meg Driscoll (rising Australian star Kirsty Sturgess), who’s keen to mark her territory as this is her first time leading a murder case.

"Meg's imperfect — she's got the rookie in her! It’s clear that despite being really good and capable of solving this murder, there are details of this job she is yet to learn," says Kirsty.

Despite the initial culture and personality clash, Max and Meg eventually gain each other’s trust as they begin to piece together the clues and find themselves uncovering a complex conspiracy with international political consequences.

With the finger of suspicion pointing to Sophie’s boyfriend, Tom Macklin (Max Mayer-Rayment), his best friend, Oscar Aruzzi (Jonathan Lagudi), and Tom’s hot-shot businessman dad Lloyd Macklin (Black Snow’s Rob Carlton), questions also arise over Abigail’s relationship with her old friend, Greg Hardy (Frayed’s Matt Passmore), the leader of the Australian opposition party and likely next Prime Minister.

Will the unmasking of Sophie’s killer and the exposing of dark secrets bring the elite world of the North Shore crashing down?

Cast

Joanne Froggatt plays Abigail Crawford, with John Bradley as DS Max Drummond and Kirsty Sturgess as DS Meg Driscoll. Dan Spielman plays Simon Chalcott, Abigail's husband. Rob Carlton plays Lloyd Jacklin, the father of Sophie's boyfriend. Matt Passmore is Greg Hardy, the leader of the Australian opposition party.