Requiem could be the BBC's most terrifying whodunnit drama ever
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This tale of the unexpected is a chilling whodunnit – and kicks off with a shocking death. Talented young cellist Tilly is about to go on stage to perform at the Royal Festival Hall.
But then her mother Janice – usually a real ‘stage mum’ – turns up half-dressed, hands her a bunch of flowers and slits her own throat. It’s the start of a rollercoaster ride where nothing is ever as it seems.
‘It’s a psychological drama, but in a sneaky way,’ says Lydia Wilson, who plays Tilly. ‘She’s a girl from London in Converse trainers whose life suddenly spirals into this giant mystery. Requiem starts off with the banality of every day life in the city, then it suddenly goes, “Woah!”’
(Image: BBC)
After the death of Janice, daughter Tilly finds a shoe box on her mother’s bed. It contains photos, a video tape and newspaper clippings about a little girl called Carys Howell.
Carys disappeared from a Welsh village 23 years before.
So with her friend Hal (Joel Fry) she leaves London behind and heads to Penllynith to speak to locals – but they couldn’t be less welcoming.
Spookily, wealthy landowner Ewan Dean jumped off his roof the day before Janice (Joanna Scanlan) committed suicide. Even more spookily, he smashed all his mirrors first, and ghostly sounds were heard when he died. Tilly also realises she’s having a recurring dream about finding a little girl in a creepy basement.
(Image: BBC)
The six-parter soon turns into part ghost story, part mystery.
‘It’s going to keep people guessing right to the end,’ promises Downton Abbey’s Brendan Coyle, who plays the detective who investigated Carys’s disappearance.
As Tilly starts digging up the past, suspicion falls on many of the villagers. It’s an intense story, and took its toll on actress Lydia. ‘It was very tough,’ she reveals. ‘I’d be crying on my days off.’
Viewers might find it all rather unsettling too. The first episode ends with a major reveal. It will leave you bewildered as you wonder what happened in Tilly’s past, and eager for more.
Requiem is on Fri 9pm BBC1 then full series on iPlayer