Martin Clunes to star in dark new ITV drama Out There

Martin Clunes is to take the lead role in brand new drama Out There on ITV.

The Doc Martin star will play a farmer who is confronted with dark forces seeping into his rural community.

A teaser for the six-part series shares: “Martin Clunes plays Nathan Williams, a man who runs a farm which has been in his family for generations, caught in a numbing rhythm of work and grief following the death of his wife, Sabine, two years previously.

“A single parent to teenager Johnny, played by Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Nathan is uniquely placed and possesses enough pent-up energy to take on the gangs that threaten to engulf his son.

“Consequently, he embarks on a personal journey that will take him ever further out of his comfort zone into a dark alternative world as he fights to protect his family, his homestead and his legacy. He’s missed all the clues that the country idyll around him has been fatally compromised, contaminated by waves of criminality spreading and mutating virus-like from the city.

“Now Nathan must accept that the rustic atmosphere of his childhood is long gone, replaced by something altogether more edgy and perilous. And the only way for Nathan, our hero, to survive in this brave new world is to learn the
rules and fight back…”

Out There has been written by Ed Whitmore (Steeltown Murders, Grace, Manhunt, Silent Witness, Safe House) and director Marc Evans (Steeltown Murders, Manhunt, The Pembrokeshire Murders, Grav), and produced by Buffalo Pictures (Manhunt, Doc Martin, Arthur & George).

The series will air on ITV1 and ITVX with a release date to be announced.

Martin Clunes said: “I’m very happy to be working with Marc Evans and Ed Whitmore again after the success of Manhunt. Out There couldn’t be more different from Doc Martin. It’s pretty dark, but definitely a story worth telling.”

ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill said: “Out There is a brilliantly compelling drama, from the team behind Manhunt, where county lines become very real for a father and son already dealing with the modern challenges of running a farm. Martin Clunes is wonderful as Nathan, in a drama full of surprises, as he tries to navigate the best way to save his son, in a world he doesn’t understand.”