When the writer responsible for The Bridge pens a not-Nordic but definitely noir crime series set in London, with a detective who can’t trust her own mind, you can expect things to be twisty, unpredictable, a bit dark. And so it is with screenwriter and novelist Hans Rosenfeldt’s three-season drama Marcella.
Anna Friel (a Golden Globe nominee for Pushing Daisies) plays DS Marcella Backland, who returns to the Metropolitan murder squad after a 12-year career break to raise a family. Things are breaking down at home and challenging at work too. She’s assigned to a cold case she worked on before she left the job, after a series of killings that bear disturbing similarities to the unsolved murders of over a decade ago. Is the culprit back at it, or are these copycat crimes? As we soon discover, when unflinching and headstrong Marcella gets an idea in her head about a suspect, she doesn’t always make the smartest decisions. But there’s something else she has to deal with: Marcella is occasionally hit by fugue states – blackouts – and as season one unfolds, she’s soon not only an investigator but possibly even a suspect, too. (If you think this is familiar and you haven’t seen Marcella, it may be because the global success of Marcella prompted a French adaptation, Rebecca, which was also a hit.)
“To play a woman like Marcella was an amazing opportunity for me. It’s a study of a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown whilst holding down a really full-on job. She seems to be holding it together on the outside but on the inside, she’s a mess,” says Friel, who thinks viewers may find her character relatable because of the challenges she faces.
“Having a woman who is dealing with a mental illness, whilst working, being a single mum and trying to keep everything afloat is very relatable.
“…We’re not in the day and age where most women (and not just women) have children and stay at home to look after them. There’s a lot of pressure for people to juggle a job, a home life, be healthy, look good, be good at your work and generally be a good person.”
Sophia Brown, Ray Panthaki, Jack Doolan and Jamie Bamber in season 2 of 'Marcella'. Credit: Amanda Searle / ITV
Along with Friel, who won an International Emmy for her role, the cast also features Ray Panthaki (recently seen in the gripping series Boiling Point, also at SBS On Demand), as DI Rav Sangha, a fellow detective on Marcella’s team; Nicholas Pinnock (Captain America, Django, This Town) as Marcella’s husband Jason; and Jamie Bamber (D.I. Ray) and Jack Doolan (White Gold) as detectives Tim Williamson and Mark Travis. Other familiar faces include Nina Sosanya (star of prison drama Screw), Irish actress Sinead Cusack and Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael.
In season one, which starts off in the chilly days of winter, Friel’s parka was also a star (“The coat sold out following its appearance, which was such a nice form of flattery!” Friel says.)
Season two is not as chilly, weatherwise (the action kicks off in summer), but Rosenfeld’s storyline still brings the Noirish intrigue, with the discovery of the body of a young boy inside a wall. The case hits home as Marcella realised her son knew the dead boy. As the investigation unfolds, we meet a new team member DC LeAnn Hunter (Sophia Brown, You & Me, The Witcher: Blood Origin)
And season three puts Marcella in very different territory, with a new name and a new look. It’s not giving too much away to say she’s undercover, dangerously embedded in the heart of a violent Belfast crime family. Discovery would likely mean death, but there’s another danger here. Is she so desperate to escape her past that she’s beginning to embrace her new identity a little too well?
Playing Marcella was not always easy for Friel.
“You do have to put yourself into a dark space to play her. I do remember one day coming into work and it was really sunny, I remember thinking ‘Oh I’m so happy with this’ but had to quickly forget my mood and get into the mind space of Marcella.
“… The camera sees what you’re thinking and your thoughts have to be of the character you portray. Of course, you don’t have to have done what the character has done but you do have to imagine how they would feel and act.”
Anna Friel as DS Marcella Backland. Credit: ITV
“I call Marcella the dark knight. I think her style really reflects her emotions. When you’ve been emotionally hurt sometimes you just throw some clothes on and don’t spend so much time on what you look like. She dresses for herself and no one else. She’s a little bit androgynous, a bit urban, and she is very much her own person.
“There are so many reasons to watch Marcella, not just for the fear and thriller elements but it will hopefully make you feel a lot better about your own life!”
This article contains edited extracts of material supplied by ITV.
All 3 seasons of Marcella are streaming now at SBS On Demand. Season 1 is also airing Saturdays 10.30pm on SBS VICELAND from 9 August.
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Marcella
