Follow
Sundance Channel is launching a new mini series called Restless starring Haley Atwell, Rufus Sewell, Michelle Dockery, Michael Gambon and Charlotte Rampling. Premiere will be December 7th at 9PM et/pt.
Restless,” Sundance Channel’s riveting original miniseries, will premiere December 7th at 9 pm et/pt with part two premiering on December 14th at 9pm et/pt, it was announced today. Part of the cable network’s upcoming robust scripted programming slate, the two-part co-production, is based on the novel penned by celebrated award-winning contemporary British novelist William Boyd and depicts the thrilling story of a daughter who discovers that her mother was recruited as a spy during World War II. An enthralling story of wartime espionage, love and betrayal, “Restless” also lifts the lid on one of the last secrets of World War II.
Produced by Emmy Award winner Hilary Bevan Jones (State of Play, The Girl in the Café) under her shingle Endor Productions, directed by Edward Hall, and featuring a teleplay written by Boyd, the two compelling installments feature a world-renowned cast including Hayley Atwell (“Any Human Heart,” Captain America) Rufus Sewell (“Pillars of the Earth,” “Zen”), Michelle Dockery (“Downton Abbey”, Anna Karenina), Michael Gambon (“Page Eight,” Luck) and Charlotte Rampling (Melancholia, The Eye of the Storm). Filming took place this summer in South Africa and the UK.
“Restless” asks the question: What becomes of your life when everything you thought was solid and certain about it turns out to be a fantastically complicated lie? This is the quandary faced by Ruth Gilmartin (Michelle Dockery) when, one day in 1976, her mother Sally (Charlotte Rampling) suddenly reveals that she has been living a double life. She is not the respectable Sally Gilmartin, but in fact Eva Delectorskaya, a spy for the British Secret Service who has been on the run for thirty years.
Eva’s story begins in Paris in 1939. Eva (Hayley Attwell), a beautiful Russian émigrée, is recruited for the British Secret by Lucas Romer (Rufus Sewell), a mysteriously alluring Englishman. As Romer trains Eva to become the perfect spy their love affair begins. When a crucial mission collapses in the USA and Eva finds herself in terrible, fatal jeopardy she knows she has no option but to run and hide forever. Once a spy always a spy. No one can be trusted. But now Sally Gilmartin yearns to end her years of restless watching and waiting. Thirty years on, the only man who can bring this about is her former lover and spymaster, Lucas Romer, now Baron Mansfield of Hampton Cleeve (Michael Gambon), and the only person she can call on for help is her daughter, Ruth. The final chapter of this epic story of love, duplicity and betrayal is about to end – and who will pay the greatest price remains to be discovered.
RESTLESS is made by Endor Productions in association with Sundance Channel for BBC One. Program is produced by Hilary Bevan Jones and Paul Frift for Endor and Executive Producers are William Boyd with Matthew Read for BBC and Christian Vesper for Sundance Channel.
“Restless” is the first of three new scripted projects announced by Sundance Channel this year. The channel recently wrapped production in New Zealand on “Top of the Lake” from Jane Campion and starring Elisabeth Moss and Holly Hunter and has just completed production in Georgia on “Rectify.” “Rectify,” from the producers of “Breaking Bad” and Oscar® winner Ray McKinnon, is Sundance Channel’s first wholly owned production and is scheduled to air in 2013. Earlier this year, the network received Golden Globe and SAG® nominations for scripted mini-series “Appropriate Adult.” The network’s first scripted project, “Carlos”, won the Golden Globe for Outstanding Mini-series in 2011.
Will you watch Restless on Sundance Channel? Let me know in the comments section. Also, follow me on Twitter for more Restless scoop.