Jenna Coleman will star as the mother of an abducted newborn baby in BBC1 psychological thriller The Cry.


The Victoria and Doctor Who actress has been cast as a young mother named Joanna in the four-part drama, with Top of the Lake actor Ewen Leslie taking on the part of her husband Alistair.

Joanna and Alistair find themselves at the centre of an unthinkable tragedy when their baby boy is taken from a small coastal town in Australia, with the tragedy changing their lives and their marriage forever. As they face the glare of public scrutiny, we’ll see the “disintegrating psychology” of this young mother as she faces the unthinkable.

Coleman has described the experience of reading the script as “like walking a tightrope, racing page to page, unsettling, unknowable, uncomfortable, and thrilling.”

Four-part thriller The Cry has been written by Jacquelin Perske and is adapted from the 2013 novel by Helen FitzGerald. Glendyn Ivin will take on the role of director.

Leslie adds, “From Helen FitzGerald’s addictive and exciting novel, to Jacquelin Perske’s beautifully written scripts, I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of the amazing team that has been formed to bring these complicated characters and thrilling story to the screen.”


Filming will take place in Australia as well as Scotland, where production company Synchronicity Films is based.