Jason Watkins also stars.
Nearly 10 years after it initially premiered, James Nesbitt’s crime drama The Secret is being pushed on ITVX’s front page in its ‘Unmissable Boxsets’ section, alongside big hits like Trigger Point and Quiz.
Originally airing across April and May in 2016, the four-part mini-series is based on a true story, and caused a fair bit of controversy.
Starring Nesbitt, Andor‘s Genevieve O’Reilly, Hollyoaks‘ Glen Wallace, Emma‘s Laura Pyper, and McDonald & Dodds‘ Jason Watkins, the show follows a dentist who meets at a teacher at church, and they begin an affair behind their partners’ backs.
Things get extremely dark when he murders his wife and her husband, and stages it to look like a suicide pact.
Although the drama won a Royal Television Society award and was nominated for a BAFTA, it ended up facing an Ofcom investigation and was discussed on Prime Minister’s Questions.
The series was criticised by the daughter of one of the victims, who wrote in The Guardian that it was “exploiting a tragedy for entertainment” and had a “disregard for accuracy”.
ITV responded at the time, stating: “The scripts for The Secret were based on an exhaustively researched book by a highly respected journalist, as well as extensive additional research and the documented court cases, which have been widely reported in the media.
“The programme makers informed the families of the production, and gave them the opportunity to see the series prior to broadcast. We have never suggested that they approved or authorised the drama.”
In terms of the viewer response, The Secret has a solid average score of 7.1/10 from over 4,200 user ratings on IMDb.
One fan called it a “brilliant, riveting crime drama” with an “absolutely chilling” performance from Nesbitt, while another echoed the comments but wished that Watkins appeared more.
