''Roadkill'' is a British four-part television

political intrigue In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, Political party, party officials and Lobbying, lobbyists can be accused of various ...

thriller written and created by David Hare, and directed by Michael Keillor. The series was made by The Forge production studio for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, co-financed by

Masterpiece A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

in association with

All3Media International All3Media Limited is a British worldwide independent television, film, and digital production and distribution company based in London. The All3Media group consists of more than 50 production and distribution companies and labels from the Uni ...

. It was first broadcast in the UK on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on 18 October 2020. In the United States, it was broadcast as part of the ''Masterpiece'' anthology series on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

starting on 1 November 2020.

Premise

The series stars

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, singer, musician and writer. He first gained professional recognition as a member of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. Fry and Laurie act ...

as the populist Conservative politician, Peter Laurence, freshly promoted to the middle-ranking

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and on the up, after just dodging a scandal by winning a major libel case in the High Court against a national newspaper, but whose private life is under fire from his family — including an imprisoned illegitimate daughter, who has just come to light — as well as his political foes. Primary amongst his political friends / enemies is the embattled

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Dawn Ellison played by

Helen McCrory Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her professional stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other theatre roles include play ...

in her final performance before her death in April 2021.

Cast

as the Rt Hon. Peter Laurence MP, the

Secretary of State for Justice The secretary of state for justice is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Justice. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Since the office's inception ...

and

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

as the Rt Hon. Dawn Ellison MP,

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Pippa Bennett-Warner Philippa Elaine Fanti Bennett-Warner (born 23 July 1988) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress, playing young Nala in the original West End production of ''The Lion King'' (1999). She went on to earn WhatsOnStage and Ian ...

as Rochelle Madeley *

Millie Brady Camilla Eve Brady is an English actress and model. She is best known for portraying Æthelflæd in the Netflix drama series '' The Last Kingdom'' (2017–2022). She also appeared in the film ''Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'' (2016) and the App ...

as Lily Laurence *

Ophelia Lovibond Ophelia Lucy Lovibond (born 19 February 1986) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Carina in the films '' Thor: The Dark World'' and '' Guardians of the Galaxy,'' Izzy Gould in the BBC's '' W1A'', Patty Failure in Disney's '' Tim ...

as Susan Laurence *

Shalom Brune-Franklin Shalom Brune-Franklin is a British and Australian actress. She is known for playing Private Maisie Richards in the BBC series '' Our Girl'', Umm Khulthum in ''The State'', Ella in '' Love Me'' and Aoife in the Australian series ''Doctor Doctor' ...

as Rose Dietl *

Iain De Caestecker Iain De Caestecker ( ; born 29 December 1987) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying Leopold Fitz/The Doctor in the television series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020). He is also known for his roles in ''Coronation Street ...

as Duncan Knock *

Sarah Greene Elizabeth Sarah Greene is an English television presenter. She co-presented ''Blue Peter'' from May 1980 until June 1983, and hosted the Saturday-morning series ''Saturday Superstore'' and '' Going Live!''. Early life and career Greene was bo ...

as Charmian Pepper *

Saskia Reeves Saskia Reeves (born 16 August 1961) is a British actress, known for her roles in films including '' Close My Eyes'' (1991) , ''I.D.'' (1995), and '' Our Kind of Traitor'' (2016), in the 2000 miniseries '' Frank Herbert's Dune'', and in TV seri ...

as Helen Laurence *

Patricia Hodge Patricia Ann Hodge (born 29 September 1946) is an English actress. She is known on-screen for playing Phyllida Erskine-Brown in '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' (1978–1992), Jemima Shore in '' Jemima Shore Investigates'' (1983), Penny in '' Miranda ...

as Lady Roche *

Olivia Vinall Olivia Vinall is an English 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, Belgium but ...

as Julia Blythe *

Sidse Babett Knudsen Sidse Babett Knudsen (; born 22 November 1968) is a Danish actress who works in theatre, television, and film. Knudsen made her screen debut in the 1997 improvisational comedy '' Let's Get Lost'', for which she received both the Robert and Bodil ...

as Madeleine Halle * Danny Ashok as Luke Strand *

Gbemisola Ikumelo Gbemisola Ikumelo is a British actress, comedian and writer. She has won a BAFTA award for her short ''Brain in Gear'' and best female comedy performance from the Royal Television Society for her role in her show '' Famalam''. Life and career Ik ...

as Steff Frost *

Emma Cunniffe Emma Cunniffe (born 3 July 1973) is an English film, stage and television actress. Early life Cunniffe was raised in Frodsham, Cheshire and attended Frodsham High School. She was in the local Frodsham panto group whilst growing up and was onc ...

as Sydney *

Caroline Lee-Johnson Caroline Lee-Johnson is a British actress. She is best known for her starring roles in ''Chef!'' as Janice Blackstock and ''The Knock'' as Diane Ralston. Her work has been primarily in television, but she has also had roles in films, including '' ...

as Bella Gayle * Natalie Dew as Alisha Burman * Anna Francolini as HJ Keane *

Vincenzo Nicoli Vincenzo Nicoli (born 27 July 1958) is a British actor who appears in film, television and theatre. He is best known for roles in blockbuster films, such as Alan Jude in the 1992 science fiction film '' Alien³'' (1992), Enrico Biscaglia in the ...

as George *

Jennifer Hennessy Jennifer Hennessy (born Jennifer Hayes in 1970) is an English actress. She has made numerous television appearances, including as Mrs. Brazendale in the BBC TV series ''Lilies''. Hennessy trained for three years at the Central School of Speech ...

as Bryony Beckett * Yolanda Kettle as Joy Pelling *

Kate Lamb Kate Lamb (born 18 January 1988) is a Welsh actress best known for playing Nurse Delia Busby in the BBC drama series ''Call the Midwife'' from 2015 to 2017. Early life Lamb was born in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.

as Lindsay Storm *

Katie Leung Katie Leung (born 8 August 1987; ) is a Scottish actress. She first gained fame for playing Cho Chang, Harry Potter's first love interest in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, and subsequently for her roles as Caitlyn Kiramman in the Netflix ...

as Margaret Moore *

Pip Torrens Philip D'Oyly TorrensThe Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 July 1998, University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 793 (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor. Torrens portrayed courtier Tommy Lascelles in the Netfl ...

as Joe Lapidus * Alice McMillan as Charlotte Hedge *

Tony Pitts Anthony Pitts (born 10 October 1962) is an English actor, most notable for playing Archie Brooks in the long-running British soap '' Emmerdale Farm'' between 1983 and 1993. Early life Pitts was born in Sheffield, England. His family was wo ...

as Mick 'the Mouth' Murray * Nicholas Rowe as Adam De Banzie *

Sylvestra Le Touzel Sylvestra Le Touzel (born 20 October 1958) is an English actress. Known for her character work in television, radio, film and theatre, she began her career as a child actor before moving into adult roles. She is married to actor Owen Teale, wit ...

as Dame Vanessa Pollard

Episodes

Production

The series was filmed on location in London and

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

Release

''Roadkill'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in the UK by Dazzler Media in 2021.

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 2020 British television series debuts 2020 British television series endings 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s British television miniseries Television series created by David Hare (playwright) British thriller television series BBC television dramas BBC television miniseries British English-language television shows Television shows set in London