The Listeners is a mysterious new BBC1 drama series starring Rebecca Hall which based on the bestseller by author Jordan Tannahill who's now adapted his novel for TV.
Rebecca plays Claire, a popular English teacher who begins to hear a low humming noise that no one else around her can hear. No apparent source or medical cause can be found yet the incessant sound starts to cause a rift between her and her husband Paul and daughter Ashley.
However, Claire soon finds herself a part of a disparate community who claim they can also hear ‘the hum’ and believe it can only be heard by a chosen few. We’re told The Listeners ‘explores the seduction of the wild and unknowable, the human search for the transcendent, the rise of conspiracy culture in the West, and the desire for community and connection in our increasingly polarised times.’
Here’s everything you need to know about The Listeners…
The Listeners release date
The Listeners is a four-part drama that starts on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer from Tuesday November 19 2024 at 9pm, with the episodes running weekly at the same time on BBC1, and also as a box set on BBCiPlayer. When a US release date and channel is announced we’ll let you know on here.
How to watch The Listeners: stream the mystery drama online or on TV
Is there a trailer?
Yes a trailer for The Listeners has now been released by the BBC, and it looks terrifying! Take a look below...
The Listeners plot
In The Listeners, teacher Claire Kutty (Rebecca Hall), who lives a happy life with husband Paul (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and teenage daughter Ashley (Mia Tharia), until she starts to hear a mysterious humming, which her loved ones can’t pick up.
Claire, who’s also suffering from nosebleeds and nightmares, has no idea where the noise is coming from, and when she undergoes tests that fail to pinpoint a medical cause, she grows unsettled. It starts to have a huge impact on her life, causing tension in her family.
Then, Claire realises that her student Kyle (Ollie West) can also hear the sound and the two strike up an unlikely friendship.
Tensions mount when teacher Claire and her student Kyle reach out to others who appear to detect the same eerie noise as them. The pair head to a meeting led by one-time professor Omar (Amr Waked) and his partner Jo (Gayle Rankin), who have been picking up ‘The Hum’ for years and feel it’s something to be cherished.
While it helps Claire and Kyle to feel they’re not alone, some of the group’s experiences prove unsettling. Claire also knows seeing Kyle out of school is inappropriate, so when her husband Paul (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and daughter Ashley (Mia Tharia) offer to come with her to a meeting, she tells Kyle to stay away. But can she keep her secret?
The Listeners cast — Rebecca Hall on playing Claire
Rebecca Hall plays Claire, a teacher driven to distraction by a strange noise.
"It throws up problems," says Rebecca. "She has a loving husband, a great relationship with her daughter, and a good job. But if a member of a family starts to experience something that everyone else doesn’t, it's alienating.
"If you think you're the only person in the world going through something, then you come across someone else, you want that connection. But it's dangerous and inappropriate, as she's his teacher…
"Having something destabilised within her sparks the seed of rebellion and maybe she wants something more from life. But when you feel isolated, you become vulnerable to different ideas and strange people…"
* Rebecca Hall previously played Ilene Andrews in the movie Godzilla vs. Kong and has also had roles in Holmes & Watson, The BFG, The Awakening, The Town, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon and A Rainy Day in New York, alongside Timothee Chalamet and Elle Fanning.
Who else is starring in The Listeners?
Other cast in The Listeners include Hamnet star Ollie West who plays Kyle, a student who can also hear the noise. Prasanna Puwanarajah (The Crown), Amr Waked (Ramy), Gayle Rankin (The Greatest Showman), Mia Tharia (Phoenix Rise), Franc Ashman (Inside Man), Samuel Edward Cook (Peaky Blinders) Karen Henthorn (Coronation Street), Lucy Sheen (Ping Pong) and Ian Mercer (All Creatures Great And Small) also star in the series.
"Kyle thought he was going mad, so with Claire, he has someone he can talk about 'The Hum' with. They need each other," says Ollie West. "But it becomes dangerous…"
Behind the scenes and more on The Listeners
The Listeners is created by Element Pictures (Normal People, The Favourite, Poor Things), a Fremantle company for the BBC, and directed by Janicza Bravo (Zola, Poker Face, Mrs America). The series is written by author Jordan Tannahill and directed by Janicza Bravo. Both also serve as executive producers, alongside Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann and Rachel Dargavel for Element Pictures, Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC, and Alice Birch. The series is produced by BAFTA-nominated Ed King (His House, Suspect, Howl). Global sales will be handled by Fremantle.
