Apple Tree Yard
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''Apple Tree Yard'' is a British television psychological thriller, adapted from the 2013 novel of the same name by Louise Doughty. The four-part series was commissioned in 2016 and the first episode had its premiere on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
on 22 January 2017.
Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar War ...
stars as the novel's original lead, Yvonne Carmichael, with Ben Chaplin portraying the role of her lover, Mark Costley. ''Apple Tree Yard'' follows the story of Carmichael, a conflicted, moderately unhappily-married fifty-something scientist, who begins a covert yet flagrant affair with Costley whilst completely unaware of his background.


Cast

*
Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar War ...
as Yvonne Carmichael * Ben Chaplin as Mark Costley *
Mark Bonnar Richard Mark Bonnar (born 19 November 1968) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in ''Guilt'', Duncan Hunter in ''Shetland'', Bruno Jenkins in ''Casualty'', Detective Finney in ''Psychoville'', DCC Mike Dryden in ''Line of Duty ...
as Gary Carmichael *
Steven Elder Steven Elder is an English actor and screenwriter, known for his roles in the feature films ''Good'' (2008) and '' The King'' (2019), and the BBC television series '' Apple Tree Yard'' (2017). Filmography Films Television Audio drama ''H ...
as George Selway *
Kezia Burrows Kezia Burrows is a Welsh actress, known for portraying the role of Dr Cath Llewelyn in the BBC Wales medical drama ''Crash'' from 2009 to 2010. Life and career Born in Neath, she lived in Porthcawl and then Carmarthen But sites being from the s ...
as Kate Costley * Susan Lynch as Susannah * Franc Ashman as Liz * Laure Stockley as Rosa *
Olivia Vinall Olivia Vinall is an English/Belgian actress known for her roles in ''Apple Tree Yard'' (2017), '' The Woman in White'' (2018) and as Detective Matilda Stone in ''Queens of Mystery'' in 2019. Early life Olivia Vinall was born in Brussels, Bel ...
as Carrie *
Assad Zaman Assad Zaman is a British actor. He is known for his stage work and his roles in the BBC thriller ''Apple Tree Yard'' (2017), the period drama '' Hotel Portofino'' (2022–) and the AMC series ''Interview with the Vampire'' (2022–). Early life ...
as Sathnam * Robin Morrissey as Jamie * Jack Hamilton as Adam * Grace Carey as Maddie * Beth Chalmers as Sally * Jim Creighton as Jake * Alexis Conran as Harry *
Susannah Doyle Susannah Doyle (born 5 July 1966) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Joy Merryweather in ''Drop The Dead Donkey'' and as Avril Burke in ''Ballykissangel''. The daughter of the Irish actor Tony Doyle, she realised that she wish ...
as Marcia *
Darren Morfitt Darren Morfitt (born 12 September 1973) is an English actor who has appeared in ''55 Degrees North'', '' Grafters'', ''Dalziel and Pascoe'', '' Warriors'', '' Making Waves'', ''The Government Inspector'' and the cult werewolf movie '' Dog Soldi ...
as Kevin *
Rhashan Stone Rhashan Stone is an American actor and comedian based in the UK. He is best known for appearing in many comedy shows such as ''Desmond's'' and ''Mutual Friends''. Stone is also a stage actor who has performed in numerous productions for The Ro ...
as Robert * Frances Tomelty as Price *
Denise Gough Denise Gough (born 28 February 1980) is an Irish actress. She is the elder sister of the actress Kelly Gough. She has worked in film, television, video games and theatre. Gough is a double Olivier Award winner. Early life Born in Ennis, Cou ...
as DS Johns


Plot

After giving a presentation in the House of Commons, Yvonne Carmichael (Watson) meets a lean and mysterious man (Ben Chaplin), who charms her by offering her a tour of the locked Secret Chapel of the Commons. They quickly take likings to one another and have sex in the historic former broom cupboard. Afterwards, Yvonne begins secretly to compose fantasy letters playing out a relationship with the stranger, Mr X. The next day, Yvonne tracks Mr X to a café opposite the Commons, inviting him for coffee. After engaging in unbridled, consensual coitus in the café toilets, they agree to an illicit affair fueled by the thrill of engaging in sexual acts, at times in public places. Yvonne becomes aware that her lover is unwilling to reveal his true identity, but begins to thrive on their shared secret. One night, after meeting with Mr. X in Apple Tree Yard, Yvonne attends a party for one of her colleagues. There, she is approached by a colleague, George (Elder), who reveals that he has harboured secret feelings for her for some time. When she rejects his advances, George brutally
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
s her. Traumatised from the attack, Yvonne is forced to take time away from work. She slowly begins to confide in Mr X, who advises her to speak to a rape expert before she decides whether to report the incident to the police. She decides against doing so, but also breaks off the affair. Yvonne tries to pluck up the courage to face her colleagues, but realises that she cannot get the image of George out of her head. She later makes the decision to resign from her job and focus more on her personal life. When she discovers that her husband Gary has spent the weekend away in bed with his intern, Yvonne completely abandons the idea of retirement and decides to reignite her affair with Mr X. However, she begins to notice that George is stalking her. Yvonne is confronted by George in a local shop, causing her to accept Mr X's offer to "resolve" the problem, expecting him to intimidate George by beating him up. They drive to George's house where, with Yvonne staying in the car, Mr X goes inside. When he returns, looking anxious, she drives him away and they eventually part company. Shortly afterwards, Yvonne and Mr X, named by officials as Mark Costley, are arrested and charged with George's murder. During the ensuing trial process, Yvonne believes Mark will protect her by not revealing their affair. But when expert evidence in his favour is undermined by the prosecutor, Mark allows his barrister to disclose their affair whilst
cross-examining In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and m ...
Yvonne, and she is shown to be
lying under oath Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
. However, Yvonne's powerful testimony about her rape gains the jury's sympathy, and she is found not guilty of the killing—though she receives a
suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...
for perjury. Mark is found guilty of
manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Yvonne subsequently visits him in prison, where she recalls a moment when she asked Mark to kill George, and to smash his face in. She says to Mark that she realises he has a
personality disorder Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...
that means he took her request more literally than she intended.


Production

Regarding the rape scene involving
Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar War ...
and
Steven Elder Steven Elder is an English actor and screenwriter, known for his roles in the feature films ''Good'' (2008) and '' The King'' (2019), and the BBC television series '' Apple Tree Yard'' (2017). Filmography Films Television Audio drama ''H ...
in the first episode, director Jessica Hobbs commented that the scene was "well researched" and reflected on testimony made by several real victims in order to make the scene as accurate as possible. Watson commented; "It was an incredibly hard day for everyone. We wanted to be very sudden and very real. The people we spoke to described it as an out of body experience and so we tried to reflect that." She also noted that having worked closely with Chaplin in the past, it made filming their consensual sex scenes easier: "We've known each other a long time, and we didn't want to fumble about, waiting for someone to shout 'Cut!', which usually happens. We plotted and planned every detail. We wanted it to be realistic – what would it be like in that situation, in a cupboard with a complete stranger? Which was great. I'd never laughed so much and it felt... empowering!" However, the rape scene was heavily criticised by several victim support organisations, with
Rape Crisis England and Wales Rape Crisis England and Wales is the national umbrella organisation for Rape Crisis Centres across England and Wales. As a registered charity, Rape Crisis also works to raise awareness of sexual violence and campaign for change. Services Rape ...
spokeswoman Katie Russell branding the scene "harrowing".


Episodes


Home media release

The four-part series was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 20 February 2017.


Accolades


References


External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=5336698, title=Apple Tree Yard 2017 British television series debuts 2017 British television series endings 2010s British drama television series Adultery in television BBC television dramas BBC television miniseries Television series by Endemol Television series by Fremantle (company) 2010s British television miniseries English-language television shows Rape in television Television shows set in London Television shows based on British novels