When does The Child In Time on BBC One start, who is in the cast with Benedict Cumberbatch and what’s the Ian McEwan adaptation about?
HARROWING new BBC One drama The Child In Our Time is heading your way and it will tell the tale of when every parent's worst nightmare comes true.
Adapted from Ian McEwan's 1987 novel of the same name, it boasts a top cast including global superstar Benedict Cumberbatch, who also produced the show. Here's the lowdown...
When is The Child In Time on BBC One and what is it about?
The Child In Time airs TONIGHT (Sunday, September 24) at 9pm on BBC One.
The one-off, 90-minute drama will go head-to-head with Dragons' Den on BBC Two, Victoria on ITV, Electric Dreams on Channel 4 and Olympus Has Fallen on Channel 5.
The story is set two years after the three-year-old daughter of author Stephen Lewis (Benedict Cumberbatch) went missing.
Stephen is struggling to find a purpose in his life as his wife has left him while his best friends Charles and Thelma have moved to the countryside.
The original novel - by the author of Atonement, On Chesil Beach and Enduring Love - was a hit and won the prestigious Whitbread Novel Award in 1987.
If you miss it you'll be able to catchup on iPlayer shortly after broadcast.
Who's in the cast with Benedict Cumberbatch?
Trainspotting star Kelly Macdonald plays Benedict Cumberbatch's on-screen wife Julie.
Stephen Campbell Moore is playing Stephen's friend Charles while Luther actress Saskia Reeves is starring as Thelma.
And the adaptation has been written by Stephen Butchard, the man behind crime series Vincent, drama House Of Saddam and historical epic The Last Kingdom.
Helen Gregory, Executive Producer for Pinewood Television, says: “I’m so delighted to have such a talented cast join Benedict, Julian and the team and I’m very much looking forward to seeing them bring Stephen's [Butchard] script to screen.”
The series BBC is producing the adaptation under SunnyMarch TV of which he Benedict is a co-founder.
In a statement earlier this year, he said: “I read the novel years ago and it stayed with me – profound, beautiful and very moving.
"Only Ian McEwan could write about loss with such telling honesty."
Has Benedict Cumberbatch starred in any other Ian McEwan adaptations?
Benedict previously starred in Joe Wright's adaptation of Atonement alongside James McAvoy, Keira Knightly and Saoirse Ronan.
He played a creepy wealthy chocolate manufacturer called Paul Marshall who raped 15-year-old Lola Quincey.
Paul got away with the act after tragic Robbie Turner was framed for it.
