The role of a stay-at-home father and the challenges it poses to traditional ideas of masculinity is a theme rarely explored in television and film.
Coldwater, a new six-part thriller from playwright David Ireland, tackles the subject while also examining the strains of a long-term marriage and whether relocating can ever truly resolve personal struggles.
The series marks the return of The Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln to British television in his first UK drama in more than a decade.
Lincoln, 51, plays John, a middle-aged man in the midst of an identity crisis who moves his family from London to the Scottish village of Coldwater. There, he befriends his new neighbour Tommy, portrayed by Trainspotting’s Ewen Bremner.
But Tommy is concealing horrifying secrets that soon unravel into a series of unsettling events.
The cast also includes Luther actress Indira Varma as John’s wife, Fiona, and The Guest star Eve Myles as Tommy’s wife, Rebecca.
Lincoln, who played Rick Grimes across 11 seasons of the US horror drama, says Ireland’s script was impossible to ignore.
“It was one of those scripts that I just couldn’t get away from. I hadn’t read anything like it for a long, long time,” says the London-born actor.
“It was frightening and I thought it would be challenging, but also, I thought it was about something. Then we started, and it became one of the most enjoyable, brilliant experiences with these astonishing actors.”
In the series, John is a stay-at-home father, privately resentful of his role.
When his failure to intervene in a violent playground confrontation forces him to confront his identity crisis, he uproots his family in search of a fresh start.
“He’s a man who doesn’t quite know who he is at the moment. He’s trying to find a sense of himself,” Lincoln explains.
“In this event, we all wish to behave in certain ways under certain circumstances, and this guy just doesn’t and there’s an enormous amount of shame and guilt.”
Lincoln describes the role as a welcome contrast to his years playing Rick Grimes.
“This was a great opportunity to not only work with David, but also to play something diametrically opposed to the archetype of a hero,” he says.
“To look at another version of masculinity. It made me uncomfortable because there are so many brilliant lines in it that feel familiar, the tribal nature of human beings and the vanity of small differences. I love all of that.”
Varma, 51, plays Fiona, a successful restaurateur-turned-culinary writer who is the family’s main breadwinner.
“The role really appealed to me, as it explores masculinity, what is required of men, but also of women,” says the Bath-born actress.
“I was brought up by a working mother. My dad looked after me and stopped working. So for me, it was the norm.
“I’m surprised at how few people think that’s OK. In today’s society, people say it’s cool for women to be working mothers and the breadwinners.
“But I think there’s still a lot of stigma and shame attached to it. What is a man’s purpose?
“That was what intrigued me, along with the idea of protecting a long-term marriage.”
When John and Fiona first meet their neighbours Tommy and Rebecca, they both have completely different reactions to the pair.
John is both impressed and slightly fascinated by Tommy, while Fiona despises him.
“There’s something lovely about the fact that these two share something,” says Varma.
“The moment you’re at dinner with people you find strange and unreadable, you still have your ally with you, even if you’re not getting along.
“There’s a really complex dynamic to play there, with so much subtext. Who wants what? What’s really going on?
“In any given scene, there’s always more than two things at play. I also love that you have this couple who are slightly at odds, each feeling differently about the people they’ve just met.”
Bremner, 53, plays Tommy, a man of faith and a pillar of the Coldwater community. John soon finds himself unexpectedly indebted to his new friend, unaware that Tommy is harbouring horrifying secrets.
The Scottish actor admits he had to “go into a different zone” to get to grips with such a conflicting character.
“For a long time, I was really puzzled over who my character was and couldn’t approach this script in the way I usually do. It was a challenge to find who Tommy was, and once I did, it was like putting the puzzle pieces together.
“This guy lies so easily, effortlessly, without guilt or difficulty and at the same time, he’s completely sincere about other things. It took me a long time to unlock the puzzle of what is true, what is false, and why.”
Myles, 47, plays Tommy’s wife Rebecca, an unconventional local vicar. She says she was attracted to the role as it was something she would “watch the hell out of”.
“I thought, this is really naughty and right up my street,” the Welsh actress explains.
“These characters just have this amazing quality of being heightened, but in this really domestic world that we have set up, that is Coldwater.”
“Rebecca was a bit of an enigma to me, she’s just this ray of sunshine that David has written,” she adds.
“She’s this light and this warmth and this energy and this caring, nurturing kind of Mother Earth figure.
“It doesn’t come along that often. These kinds of parts, these kinds of programmes, these kinds of roles.”
Ireland, who has created The Lovers, Ulster American and Cyprus Avenue, says he wrote the first episode of Coldwater in 2020 during lockdown.
“I was running obsessively, and I was reading the Bible a lot, and I was thinking about moving to the countryside. So that’s where it all just mingled in together,” the Northern-Irish writer explains.
Ireland, who currently resides in Glasgow, says he chose to set the series in Scotland as an obligation.
“I kind of felt an obligation, because I’ve been living in Scotland. I mostly write about Northern Ireland, which is where I’m from, and about the Troubles, and that’s what most of my plays sort of have been about,” he says.
“I’ve been living in Scotland for over 20 years, and I thought I’d better write something about it.”
Coldwater airs on Sunday September 14 on ITV1 and ITVX.
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