''Safe'' (titled onscreen as ''Harlan Coben's Safe'') is a British

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

thriller television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

created by crime author

Harlan Coben Harlan Coben (born January 4, 1962) is an American writer of mystery novels and thrillers. The plots of his novels often involve the resurfacing of unresolved or misinterpreted events in the past, murders, or fatal accidents and have multiple ...

and written primarily by screenwriter

Danny Brocklehurst Danny Brocklehurst (born June 1971) is an English screenwriter, playwright, and former journalist. He has won both BAFTA and Royal Television Society writing awards. He was featured in the writers' section of ''Broadcast'' magazine's Hot 100 in ...

. Set in England, the series is a production by

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, with C8 airing the show in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

streaming the show internationally outside France. The series began filming in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

in July 2017. It consists of eight episodes that premiered in 190 countries on 10 May 2018. The series' theme song is "Glitter and Gold" by

Barns Courtney Barnaby George "Barns" Courtney (born 17 November 1990) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Early life Courtney was born in England then moved with his family to Seattle, Washington when he was 4. He returned to the United Kingd ...

Plot

''Safe'' focuses on Briton Tom Delaney (Hall), a paediatric surgeon and widowed father of two teen daughters. He is struggling to connect with his daughters as they still grieve the loss of his wife from cancer one year prior. After his 16-year-old daughter Jenny goes missing, Tom uncovers a web of secrets as he frantically searches for her.

Cast and characters

Michael C. Hall Michael Carlyle Hall (born February 1, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Dexter Morgan, the titular character in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''Dexter (TV series), Dexter'' and David Fisher (Six Feet ...

as Tom Delaney, widower of wife Rachel, surgeon *

Amanda Abbington Amanda Abbington (born ) is an English actress. In a career spanning over thirty years on stage and screen, her most prominent roles include Josie Mardle in ''Mr Selfridge'' (2013–2016) and Mary Morstan in '' Sherlock'' (2014–2017). Her ot ...

as Sophie Mason, Detective Sergeant partnered to Emma, Tom's girlfriend and neighbour *

Marc Warren Marc Warren (born 20 March 1967) is an English actor, known for his British television roles. His roles have included Albert Blithe in ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001), Danny Blue (Hustle), Danny Blue in ''Hustle (TV ...

as Pete Mayfield, Tom's best friend and fellow doctor *

Audrey Fleurot Audrey Fleurot (; born 6 July 1977) is a French actress. She is best known for playing the Lady of the Lake in ''Kaamelott'', Joséphine Karlsson in ''Spiral (TV series), Spiral'' and Hortense Larcher in ''Un village français''. In 2011, she ...

as Zoé Chahal, mother of Chris, French teacher accused of impropriety *

Hannah Arterton Hannah Jane Arterton (born 26 January 1989) is a British actress and singer. She attended Gravesend Grammar School for Girls and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2011. She has appeared in the television series '' The Five'' ...

as Emma Castle, Detective Constable relocated from the big city * Nigel Lindsay as Jojo Marshall, Sia's father *

Laila Rouass Laila Rouass ( Abdesselam; born 22 June 1971) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Amber Gates in ''Footballers' Wives'' (2004–2006) and Sahira Shah in ''Holby City'' (2011–2012, 2021). She has also starred in ''Pri ...

as Lauren Marshall, Sia's mother * Joplin Sibtain as Neil Chahal, Zoé's husband * Milo Twomey as Archie "Bobby" Roberts, owner of a 1980s-themed bar called Heaven * Emmett J. Scanlan as Josh Mason, Sophie's ex-husband who lives in a trailer-camper parked in her driveway * Amy James-Kelly as Jenny Delaney, 16, Tom's elder daughter, girlfriend to Chris *

Amy-Leigh Hickman Amy-Leigh Hickman (born 16 September 1997) is an English actress. Hickman made her television debut as Carmen Howle in the CBBC series '' Tracy Beaker Returns'', a role she reprised in the sequel series ''The Dumping Ground''. She then went on ...

as Sia Marshall, Jenny's drug-dealing classmate * Freddie Thorp as Chris Chahal, Zoé and Neil's son, and Jenny's 19-year-old boyfriend *

Hero Fiennes Tiffin Hero Beauregard Faulkner Fiennes Tiffin (; born 6 November 1997) is an English actor and film producer. He is most known for his starring roles in the ''After'' film series (2019–2023) and for his portrayal of a young Tom Riddle in the film ...

as Ioan Fuller, a teenager who may know something about Jenny's disappearance * Louis Greatorex as Henry Mason, Sophie's teenage son * Isabelle Allen as Carrie Delaney, Tom's younger daughter *

India Fowler India Fowler (born December 20, 2003) is a British actress. She is known for her roles as Poppy in the Showtime thriller '' The Agency'' (2024) and as Young Zoe Walker in the Netflix series '' White Lines'' (2020). Fowler also stars in the horro ...

as Ellen Mason, Sophie's daughter * Imogen Gurney as Tilly Chahal, Zoé and Neil's daughter * Darren Kemp as B.O Ben, a tech expert who helps Tom track his daughters GPS * Karen Bryson as Helen Crowthorne, next-door neighbour to the Delaney family

Episodes

Critical response

''Safe'' has received positive reviews. It has a 71% approval rating on review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on 24 reviews. While British newspapers ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' found Hall's "odd" English accent to be a metaphor of overall peculiarities with the series, they both found many elements of the show to be entertaining. Ed Power wrote in ''The Daily Telegraph'' that Harlan Coben "makes every one of his characters feel plausibly sinister and throws in plenty of skilfully crafted cliff-hangers. Netflix's latest can be hackneyed and is written to formula, but the central mystery is assembled with a watchmaker's eye and the entire fandango whirrs by with ruthless efficiency." ''The Guardian''s Sam Wollaston wrote, "What looked at one point like it might be Netflix's ''

Broadchurch ''Broadchurch'' is a British crime drama television series broadcast on ITV for three series between 2013 and 2017. It was created by Chris Chibnall, who acted as an executive producer and wrote all 24 episodes; it was produced by Kudos in a ...

'' – the disappearance of a teenager, a parent's anguish, the effect on a community, the police investigation – soon starts to look more like ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

''. I'm very much enjoying these people, without really caring about them." Maureen Ryan of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' praised the series, writing, "It's a highly watchable, semi-pulpy serial loaded with reveals, clues and cliffhangers, and the core cast is generally quite good." Ben Travers of '' IndieWire'' found the series entertaining and graded it a B, writing, "''Safe'' leans into most of its increasingly preposterous moments, including Hall's accent. It's not that the show or its star's elocution are bad, per se; they just don't overwork themselves trying to convince you of their grand importance. ''Safe'' is a soap, and it's a fun diversion as such." Daniel Fienberg of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', who based his review on the first two episodes sent to critics, criticised Hall's accent and performance, the depiction of teens and other elements of the series as all off-tone. Fienberg wrote, "It could take watching the six additional episodes to know if there's a cliché-upending payoff or if ''Safe'' is just a muddle."

References

External links

* {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) French-language television shows American English-language television shows Netflix television dramas Canal+ original programming 2018 French television series debuts 2018 American television series debuts 2018 British television series debuts 2010s British crime drama television series 2010s British mystery television series 2018 French television series endings 2018 American television series endings 2018 British television series endings British thriller television series Crime thriller television series Serial drama television series Television series about dysfunctional families Television series by Red Production Company Television series by StudioCanal Television shows shot in Liverpool Television shows shot in Manchester Television shows based on works by Harlan Coben Television series created by Danny Brocklehurst Television series created by Harlan Coben