''Playing Nice'' is a British four-part television series for ITV, from

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

. It is set in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and based on the book of the same name by J. P. Delaney. James Norton stars and executive-produces through his production company Rabbit Track Pictures. Kate Hewitt directs from a script adaptation from Grace Ofori-Attah.

Synopsis

When two couples discover their toddler sons were switched at birth, they struggle with the choice whether to keep the sons they have raised, or to reclaim their biological child.

Cast

* James Norton as Pete Riley * Niamh Algar as Maddie Wilson * James McArdle as Miles Lambert *

Jessica Brown Findlay Jessica Rose Brown Findlay (born 14 September 1987) is an English actress. She played Lady Sybil Crawley (2010–2012) in the ITV television period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' and Emelia Conan Doyle in the 2011 British comedy-drama featu ...

as Lucy Lambert

Production

Grace Ofori-Attah adapts the book ''Playing Nice'' by JP Delaney. StudioCanal and Rabbit Track Pictures produce. James Norton stars and is also an executive producer.

Filming

The production got underway in Cornwall in November 2023. Filming locations included St Ives and

Padstow Padstow (; ) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary, approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

, as well as

Mawgan Porth Mawgan Porth (in , meaning "St. Mawgan's cove", or ''Porth Gluwyan'', meaning "cove of the Gluvian River") is a beach and small settlement in north Cornwall, England. It is north of Watergate Bay, approximately four miles (6 km) north of N ...

beach and Park Head, Cornwall and lasted into early 2024.

Broadcast

The series was broadcast on ITV and its accompanying streaming / catch up service

ITVX ITVX is a British Over-the-top media services, over-the-top and ad-supported Streaming television, streaming service operated by ITV plc. The service offers original content from the broadcaster, livestreams of the ITV television channels, Free ...

beginning on 5 January 2025.

Reception

Anita Singh, for ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', reviewed the series positively, claiming a "child-swap thriller doesn’t need to be believable to be addictive". Writing for ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

'', Janet A Leigh rated the series 5 stars, describing it as “the kind of show that will plague your mind in an infuriating, all-consuming, perfectly addictive way.” However, Rachel Aroesti, writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', labelled the show "mind-bendingly bad" conclusively describing it as "the worst of modern television: a witless mystery overly reliant on insidious ambience and really nice houses".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Playing Nice 2025 British television series debuts 2025 British television series endings 2020s British television miniseries British English-language television shows Television series by StudioCanal Television shows filmed in the United Kingdom ITV television dramas Biographical television series Television series about families Television shows set in Cornwall