(Left: Stephen
Graham)
The highly acclaimed drama, The Virtues, has been snapped up by ITV
Choice and will start on the channel (DStv 123) on Wednesday, September 11 at
20h00.
Directed by Shane Meadows (This is England), the four-part series
stars award-winning actor Stephen Graham (Line
of Duty, Little Boy Blue, This is England) as Joseph, a barely on-the-wagon
alcoholic whose precarious reality is knocked for six when his ex-partner moves
abroad with their young son for a better life.
With no immediate family to live for,
Joseph is haunted by a past he has tried, for decades, to forget – if not
actively obscure with drink and drugs. Suffering the hangover from hell – the
dry spell over – he walks away from his present life and boards a boat bound
for Ireland to confront hazy, fear-inducing memories from a childhood spent in
the care system that he’s had to forget.
His path soon crosses with that of Dinah,
played by Niamh Algar (Mother, Father,
Son) who, like Joseph, is also deeply guarded, holding close a secret she’s
hiding from all those around her. Joseph and Dinah’s lives spiral intensely in
and out of control as they both try to ground themselves, torn between morality
and self-indulgence, defined by their inner demons, traumatised by their own
harrowing histories, and yet enlightened by their dual faith in companionship.
A dark and visceral yet beautiful paean to
the human spirit, The Virtues is an
emotive and unlikely love story between two strangers cast adrift in life and
in exploration of the conflict between sin and virtue.
Shown on the UK's Channel 4 a few months
ago, The Virtues has received
widespread critical acclaim and scored a 95% rating on Rotten Tomato.
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