ITV and Carnival Film has begun filming on new crime drama ‘Murder On The Homefront‘ starring Patrick Kennedy (Boardwalk Empire, Parade’s End) and Tamzin Merchant (Jane Eyre, The Tudors).
Loosely based on the memoires of Molly Lefebure, who was secretary during the Second World War to the Home Office Pathologist and pioneer of modern forensics, Keith Simpson, the drama will also stars: James Fleet (Little Dorrit, The Vicar of Dibley) and Emerald Fennell (Any Human Heart, Anna Karenina).
Set during the London Blitz of 1940, Murder on the Home Front, sheds a different light on the everyday horrors of living in a city where death can visit at any moment. Vibrant, defiant and energetic this is a world of people living life for the moment. It is also a world where criminals can use the blackout and devastation to hide their darkest activities. As the Luftwaffe drop their bombs, below people are literally getting away with murder. Dr Lennox Collins (Patrick Kennedy) is a pathologist new to murder cases, obsessed with pursuing the truth through all means available. He is often at the cutting edge of new thinking in pathology from chemical tests to the controversial inclusion of the study of the psyche. This often pits him against his superiors and in particular the highly respected Professor Henry Stephens (James Fleet). Molly Cooper (Tamzin Merchant) is not only the first secretary to a pathologist she is the first woman allowed into a very male world. All Lennox knows is that she has a strong stomach, 60 words a minute and a keen brain. When together they discover a serial killer at large under cover of the Blitz, Lennox has his work cut out convincing his unsympathetic boss to have faith in his methods and theories. The novel approach of preserving a crime scene, treating every bit of physical evidence as the key to a break-through and not just relying on intuition, may help Lennox and Molly convince DI Freddie Wilkins (played by David Sturzaker) that they are about to hang the wrong man.
Executive Producer, Sally Woodward Gentle says, “With Geoffrey Sax directing Davy Kane’s witty and fast paced script we hope to depict London in the Blitz as a city living life on the edge.”
‘Murder on the Home Front‘ is produced by Christopher Hall, (The Last Weekend, Hidden), directed by Geoffrey Sax (Tipping the Velvet, White Noise), and executive produced by Gareth Neame and Sally Woodward Gentle.
