Lennie James will star in Nightswimming, an ITV thriller about a man who returns to Portugal to investigate the murders of his wife and sons after being convicted of killing them.
Harry and Jack Williams, whose credits include The Tourist, The Missing and Liar, have written the series, which will be produced by their company, Two Brothers Pictures.
James plays Matthew, whose wife, Beth, and teenage sons, Alex and Simon, were attacked in their beachfront home while he was out swimming. The drama moves between the events surrounding the killings and Matthew’s search for answers a decade later.
Matthew sets out to question old friends and the people who built the case against him, revisiting broken relationships along the way. His attempt to prove his innocence becomes more complicated when he discovers that someone close to him helped secure his conviction. Homecoming, it seems, offers little comfort.
James, known for Mr Loverman and Save Me, will also executive produce. He described Matthew as “full of complexity, contradiction and conviction”.
The Williams brothers called the drama a “small-town thriller with a morally murky edge”, with Matthew at its centre.
ITV drama director Polly Hill commissioned Nightswimming and will oversee production for the broadcaster. Filming is scheduled to begin in Portugal in 2027, with Banijay Rights handling international distribution.
