Martin Clunes stars (Picture: Buffalo Pictures for ITV and ITVX)
ITV’s latest thriller Out There has impressed viewers with its chilling plot and pitch-perfect performances.
The six-parter starring Martin Clunes and Louis Ashbourne Serkis has proved itself to be the perfect January series, with praise filling social media.
In the tense episodes, Nathan (Martin) is pulled into the dark world of county lines drug dealing, which occurs when ruthless criminals coerce young and vulnerable people into working for them.
He is forced to intervene after his teenage son, Johnny (Louis), accidentally becomes involved. Determined to protect his home, his family and his legacy, Nathan arms up to protect his way of life.
It is not a true story, but it is based in reality, with county lines being a much-reported-about issue in the UK.
Viewer Lorraine remarked: ‘Liking #OutThere and no doubt will only get better but then anything Martin Clunes is in is excellent, brilliant actor’ after beginning the show.
The tense episodes have been praised by viewers (Picture: ITV)
‘Been binge watching #OutThere with Martin Clunes on ITV1. Bloody hell! Brilliant!’ weighed in account John and Bluebell. ‘My god it’s good! Escalates really quickly!’
James Gregory predicts it could equal the success of megahit Breaking Bad if it continues. The series won multiple Emmys over its five season run.
‘Having binge-watched #OutThere yesterday morning, it’s a great series with potential for a second series and becoming UK answer to #BreakingBad.’ However, they added: ‘@LouisSerkis though deserves more meaty material delving into Johnny’s mental state in dealing with his actions deeper than showed.’
‘Clunesy is playing a blinder in this. Taffy accent not bad either. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves as an actor. He’s been in the game a long time. Respect,’ added Jack.
Nathan has to protect his family (Picture: Buffalo Pictures for ITV and ITVX)
KittyCat has taken advantage of ITVX hosting the full series: ‘Absolutely amazing series. Really enjoyed this, but, the end of Episode 6!!! What the…… Feel cheated.’
The series is set in the Welsh countryside, and some have criticised Martin’s accent, with some even joking he should leave the attempts to Charlotte from The Traitors.
Sian Reese-Williams wrote in the defence of the whole cast. ‘The criticisms of the Welsh accents in #outthere are mostly coming from English people who clearly think there’s only 1 Welsh accent,’ they argued.
‘I lose my mind at a bad Welsh accent, (and there have been SO MANY). So for the record, they’re pretty good. Louis Ashbourne-Serkis especially.’
At the series launch, Martin, 63, spoke with Metro and other media about wanting to get one particular element of his character right. Nathan is a widow and he hoped to show grief in a realistic way.
Johnny becomes involved and is protected by his father (Picture: Buffalo Pictures for ITV and ITVX)
‘It’s not that they just sit down and grieve all the time, there are moments of light because that’s how it is in real life,’ he shared.
‘Men can feel like they have to just carry on, and my character does plough on.’
Martin recalled the brutal ‘advice’ he received after his dad Alec Clunes, also an actor, died from lung cancer aged 57 in 1970: ‘I remember when my dad died, I was eight and the advice was “You’re the man of the house now and you’ve got to be grown up”. I was still wetting the bed, but never mind.’
Out There also stars Mark Lewis Jones as Nathan’s brother Caleb Williams, Carly-Sophia Davies and Gerran Howell as sister and brother Sadie and Rhys, whose lives are embroiled in the crime, and Natalia Kostrzewa as Eva, a cleaner who is drawn into the fight against the dark forces.
Out There airs every Sunday and Monday at 9pm for the next two weeks. The full series is available to stream on ITVX.
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