New ITV drama focuses on missing persons unit

Reece Shearsmith, Alex Kingston and Noel Clarke are to star in new four-part ITV drama, Chasing Shadows.

Created and written by Rob Williams (DCI Banks, Holby City), the series focuses on the work of a missing persons field unit charged with tracking down serial killers who prey on impressionable and vulnerable people.

Reece Shearsmith (The Widower, Psychoville, The League of Gentleman) will play DS Sean Stone – intense, socially awkward and a misfit whose eccentric manner frequently lands him in hot water. He’s obsessed with deciphering codes and uncovering patterns of behaviour particularly in relation to those most at risk, vulnerable missing persons.

Alex Kingston (Marchlands, Arrow, Upstairs Downstairs) plays his partner, Ruth Hattersley – a stabilising influence.  Maternal, but not mumsy, she’s an analyst from the Missing Persons Bureau tasked to work alongside Sean. Their strengths strike the perfect balance. On paper. In reality, it is a rocky partnership.

Noel Clarke (Star Trek Into Darkness, Doctor Who) takes on the role of DI Prior.

Made by ITV Studios, Francis Hopkinson (Lucan, Wallander) will executive produce.  Rob Bullock (Legacy, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher) will produce and Christopher Menaul (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, See No Evil: The Moors Murders) will direct the first self-contained story ‘Only Connect’ across two episodes. The Director of the second story ‘Off Radar’ will be Jim O’Hanlon (In The Flesh, Quirke).

Chasing Shadows is due to begin filming shortly in the South East for eight weeks.