Production starts on BBC One’s River starring Stellan Skarsgård

Actors are agents of change. They carry the vision of an entire creative team. A show like River needs broad shoulders and I can't think of anyone better than Stellan Skarsgård to take on this challenge and lead this brilliant cast.

Stellan Skarsgård (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) stars as John River, a brilliant police officer whose genius and fault-line is the fragility of his mind - a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest.

Nicola Walker (Last Tango In Halifax) will play River’s colleague and confidant, Detective Sergeant Jackie ‘Stevie’ Stevenson, with Adeel Akhtar (Utopia) as Detective Sergeant Ira King. Lesley Manville (An Adventure In Space And Time) will play their superior, Chief Inspector Chrissie Read. Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan) also joins the cast as a notorious killer who haunts River.

Further confirmed cast include Sorcha Cusack (Father Brown) as Stevie’s mother, Bridie, and Georgina Rich (Sherlock) plays police psychiatrist, Rosa. 

Abi Morgan says: “Actors are agents of change. They carry the vision of an entire creative team. A show like River needs broad shoulders and I can't think of anyone better than Stellan Skarsgård to take on this challenge and lead this brilliant cast.” 

Jane Featherstone, Chief Executive of Kudos, says: “I can’t tell you how chuffed we are at Kudos to have been able to assemble such a magnificent group of actors led by the extraordinary Stellan Skarsgård, all attracted by the quality of Abi’s script.”

Lucy Richer, Executive Producer for the BBC, says: “We’re thrilled to have such a fantastic cast joining Stellan Skarsgård and I know that they, along with Abi Morgan’s incredible script, will make River an unmissable series.”

River was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC One, and Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning. The executive producers are Jane Featherstone, Manda Levin and Abi Morgan for Kudos and Lucy Richer for the BBC. Chris Carey (Run, Ambassador, Dirk Gently) will produce and Richard Laxton (Burton And Taylor, Him And Her) will direct.

The 6x60-minute series is made by Kudos (The Hour, From There To Here, Broadchurch) for BBC One. River is being filmed in East London for transmission in 2015.

SA2