Monday TV Choice: The Feud (Monday-Wednesday, 5, 9pm)
Everybody needs good neighbours but not everybody gets what they need. A seemingly innocuous home renovation project triggers a devastating sequence of events in this six-part thriller created and written by Aschlin Ditta.
The Feud lights a fuse on a powder keg of negative emotions beneath three different couples, who appear to be living in harmony on Shelbury Drive. The resulting explosion changes everything, escalating an everyday neighbourly dispute into full-blown warfare without limits.
Criminal defence solicitor Emma Barnett (Jill Halfpenny) unwittingly lights that match when she attends a street party with her husband John (Rupert Penry-Jones), who is unemployed after leaving his job through stress, and tells him that she no longer wishes to move home. Instead, she plans to extend the kitchen of their current property to feather a bigger nest for them and their stroppy teenage daughter, Beth (Megan Trower).
Alan (Ray Fearon) and Sonia (Amy Nuttall) live next door to Emma and John, and situated nearby is older couple Derek (James Fleet) and Barbara (Tessa Peake-Jones), who are haunted by the disappearance of their son a few years ago. Across the road, oddball neighbour Nick (Alex Macqueen) is a perpetual fly in the ointment.
Nick is worried about an increased flow of traffic on the street from any building work and the possible impact to his sleep pattern. He watches his CCTV cameras like a hawk for evidence of anti-social behaviour. Meanwhile, Derek and Barbara object to the extension on the grounds that it will impede their precious tree, which is frequently watered by Barbara’s tears when she is out in the garden.
Sonia is the only person happy about good friend Emma’s abrupt change of heart about wanting to relocate.
Under pressure to abandon her dream extension, Emma cuts administrative corners by asking her estranged wheeler-dealer father Terry (Larry Lamb) to expedite the planning permission process. She hires a cheap, no-nonsense builder called Lee (Chris Gascoyne), who can start just as soon as permission is granted. John feels undermined in his own home and deeply resents the builder’s presence. Meanwhile at work, Emma comes under attack from vengeful police officer, PC Gallagher (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), who blames the solicitor for ruining her career.
The first three episodes of The Feud are shown on consecutive nights and jangle frayed nerves. Before filming began on location in Newcastle, Jill was excited to experience her feisty character’s emotional rollercoaster. “The spiral that we see Emma’s world take in The Feud, from one seemingly innocent situation to life-altering revelations, is something I can’t wait to dive into!” she remarked.
Dark secrets bubble to the surface in this opening salvo when Nick posts a video from his CCTV camera on the street group chat. Emma’s seemingly straightforward existence whirls out of control and the four walls of her suburban sanctuary become a house of horrors. Neighbourhood watch out.