Apples Never Fall: A sudden disappearance poisons a picture-perfect family

So, no wonder the new mystery drama Apples Never Fall, which begins on BBC1 tonight and is based on another of Moriarty’s bestsellers, has attracted such an impressive cast.

It’s headed by Annette Bening, who has five Oscar nominations to her name, including for American Beauty and last year’s Nyad, and Sam Neill, who has been in everything from Jurassic Park to Peaky Blinders.

They star as Joy and Stan Delaney, who are parents to four adult children, played by Jake Lacy (The White Lotus, How to be Single), Alison Brie (GLOW, Mad Men), Conor Merrigan-Turner (Thai Cave Rescue, Shattered) and Essie Randles (The Speedway Murders).

So, the drama has an impressive pedigree – but what is it about?

Joy and Stan used to run a successful tennis academy – he was the coach, and she took care of the business side. However, they are now looking forward to a peaceful retirement and the chance to spend more time with their each other and their family. Or that was the plan…

As Neill points out, the reality hasn’t been quite what the couple expected. He told The Wrap: “Retirement has come to them as more of a shock. They were looking forward to time together and, what happens to a lot of people when they retire, they realize that their [children] have left home psychologically and physically.

“They have no job to go to in the morning. So, it’s just kind of the two of them and that can be boring.”

Bening, who is also one of the drama’s executive dramas added: “As the story begins, what’s at [Joy’s] core is that she’s lost and doesn’t know where her centre is. She feels unknown to her family. She feels unknown to herself. And so she’s at a real transition point in her life.

“She doesn’t know how she got to this moment. She didn’t expect to be in this moment, and is looking for the next step to take.”

There are plenty of people who would watch seven episodes of Bening and Neill getting on each other’s nerves as they come to terms with having a bit too much time on their hands, but as fans of author Moriarty’s work have probably already deduced, there’s much more to the story than that.

The plot kicks into gear when a wounded young woman knocks on the Delaneys’ door, and it initially seems like she could be a welcome break in the monotony of Stan and Joy’s lives.

But when Joy subsequently goes missing, her children wonder if the woman could be linked to the disappearance. As they dig deeper, they are forced to confront the fact that their parents’ marriage isn’t as idyllic as it seems.

As Sue Deeks, Head of Programme Acquisition at the BBC, says: “Suspenseful and sinister, Apples Never Fall is a compelling mystery drama that will keep viewers intrigued until its riveting final episode.”