The Shadow In The North

Genre

Period drama adaptation of novel "The Shadow In The North"

Synopsis

Billie Piper heads an all-star cast, including Julian Rhind-Tutt, JJ Feild, Jared Harris, Matt Smith, John Standing and Hayley Atwell, in The Shadow In The North. This second book in a quartet by novelist Philip Pullman charts the adventures of Sally Lockhart, a feisty, young Victorian heroine (Piper).

Bafta Award-winning Adrian Hodges (Charles II, Rome, The Lost World and Pullman's first novel in the series, The Ruby In The Smoke), has adapted Pullman's intricate and cleverly woven plot and set it in the heart of Victorian London.

An elderly lady loses her money on an investment; a conjuror is pursued by thugs; and a clairvoyant sees a brutal murder in a forest and a glass coffin, then whispers the name of the richest man in Europe. These seemingly unconnected events set Sally Lockhart on the trail of an evil far more awful than she could ever imagine: the Hopkinson Self-Regulator, a super-weapon in the hands of Scandinavian madman Axel Bellmann.

Once again, Pullman's much-loved and fearless heroine embarks on a mission – this time to find out why her elderly client's investment crashed and what links the clairvoyant's murderous vision to the rich industrialist, Bellmann. As Sally closes in on the truth, it becomes devastatingly clear that her life will never be the same again. Filmed on location in London and Liverpool (BBC)

JJ Feild Role

Frederick is a photographer, boyishly handsome in his late 20s with straw-coloured hair and good-natured features. He is in love with Sally but finds his feelings are unrequited.

He becomes frequently frustrated as she continues to refuse his offer of marriage. He can never be angry with Sally for long and soon finds himself embroiled in the same mystery that Sally is attempting to unravel.

As well as running a small photography studio and shop in Holborn with his Uncle Webster with his feisty sister Rosa he also runs a sideline as a private investigator with Jim Taylor. (BBC)

Release Dates

UK: 30 December 2007 BBC1

US: September 2008 Masterpiece Mystery

France & Germany: June 2008 Arte tv

DVD: in UK Jan 2008

Links

You Tube promo trailer

Philip Pullman website