New York – April 15, 2016 – Following last night’s season premiere of Orphan Black, BBC AMERICA announces its new original five-part thriller, Thirteen, will make its debut Thursday, June 23rd at 10/9c, the week following Orphan Black’s season finale. Created by acclaimed newcomer Marnie Dickens (Hollyoaks) and starring breakout actress Jodie Comer (Doctor Foster), the series is directed by China Moo-Young (Call the Midwife) and Vanessa Caswill (My Mad Fat Diary), with Elizabeth Kilgarriff (Luther) executive producing. Thirteen is an emotional rollercoaster that explores how to pick up the threads of a life half-lived, while questioning who to trust when you can’t even trust yourself.
“Thirteen is an inventive and highly entertaining series that, just like Orphan Black, pulls you in from the get go to a young woman’s adrenaline-fueled, deeply emotional story,” said Sarah Barnett, President and General Manager of BBC AMERICA. “Given our fans’ exceptional passion for our award-winning original content, we’re pleased to give BBC AMERICA viewers another gripping series backed by strong female talent both in front of and behind the camera.”
The BBC AMERICA co-production follows Ivy Moxam (Jodie Comer, Doctor Foster) on the day she escapes from the cellar that has been her prison for the last 13 years. It’s the day she’ll return to her home, to her family, to her life – but that day is only the beginning…The Moxam family had given up all hope when suddenly their loved one was thrust back into their lives – now the family struggles to piece back together the version of their lives that existed before Ivy disappeared. Mother Christina (Natasha Little, The Night Manager) insists husband Angus (Stuart Graham, The Fall) leave his girlfriend and return to the family home – never to breathe a word to Ivy of their separation, his breakdown, and all that has passed. Their other daughter, Emma (Katherine Rose Morley, Last Tango in Halifax), isn’t even consulted about this and feels disgusted by it. Once again the focus shifts from her, and her imminent wedding to Craig Watts (Joe Layton, Tatau), to her sister.
For Ivy, even after escaping her kidnapper and returning to her family, she still can’t seem to find peace or a sense of safety; the police inform her that her captor evaded arrest and is on the run. Assigned to the case and tasked with protecting Ivy are Detective Inspector (DI) Elliott Carne (Richard Rankin, The Crimson Field) and Detective Sergeant (DS) Lisa Merchant (Valene Kane, The Fall). The duo is sharp-tongued and shares a close relationship that occasionally crosses over the line of friendship, which DS Merchant enjoys far more than DI Carne. Their relationship is tested as DI Carne becomes consumed with protecting Ivy.
Ivy is the only one who knows her kidnapper, who understands him and who can help DI Carne and DS Merchant snare him. As leads run cold, the police begin to suspect Ivy isn’t telling them the whole truth. As she fights to retain her sanity, the doubts about her begin to form – the anomalies of her statement, the errors, and her outright lies. What happened in that cellar? Where is her kidnapper? Can Ivy really be trusted? Everyone wants to untangle the mystery that is Ivy Moxam, but where narrators are unreliable, truths are withheld, and when everyone has an agenda, it is no easy task.
Thirteen is a BBC AMERICA co-production, produced by BBC In-House Drama Production England and Executive Produced by Elizabeth Kilgarriff for BBC THREE and BBC AMERICA.
CAST & PRODUCTION CREDITS
Ivy Moxam Jodie Comer (Doctor Foster)
Christina Moxam Natasha Little (The Night Manager)
Angus Moxam Stuart Graham (The Fall)
Emma Moxam Katherine Rose Morley (Last Tango in Halifax)
DI Elliott Carne Richard Rankin (The Crimson Field)
DS Lisa Merchant Valene Kane (The Fall)
Tim Hobson Aneurin Barnard (War & Peace)
Craig Watts Joe Layton (Tatau)
Eloise Wye Eleanor Wyld (Father Brown)
Henry Stone Nicholas Farrell (Legend)
Writer and Creator Marnie Dickens
Director (Episodes 1, 2 and 3) Vanessa Caswill (My Mad Fat Diary)
Director (Episodes 4 and 5) China Moo-Young (Humans, Call the Midwife)
Executive Producer Elizabeth Kilgarriff (Luther, Call the Midwife)
CHARACTER BIOS
IVY MOXAM was lavished with love and affection by her parents and doted by her younger sister before being kidnapped. A late bloomer, she grew inseparable from her more confident best friend Eloise and her first boyfriend Tim, who she obsessed over in the way only a teenager can. However, once in captivity, she lived a life in darkness and solitude. After her escape, Ivy’s shifting between identities and struggles with being all things to all people, which make her wonder if she ever really can be free.
CHRISTINA MOXAM’s life hasn’t worked out the way she imagined. After she fell for Angus, her career took a backseat to being a mother and a wife. Once her precious Ivy was snatched, all Christina’s focus went on finding her. She never once gave up hope of her daughter’s homecoming. However, with Ivy’s return, she’s forced to confront the fact that it’s not the perfect happy ending she’s been dreaming about all these years.
ANGUS MOXAM’s marriage to Christina was one of the things he was most proud of in life. With her support raising their daughters, he focused on work. However, when Ivy was taken, his world collapsed and he had a major breakdown. Part of his recovery was to accept that his beloved daughter had died, and his decision pushed him away from his wife and daughter Emma. When Ivy comes back, Angus has to choose between the new life he’s forged and his past.
EMMA MOXAM was just beginning to find herself when her sister Ivy was abducted. Spending her teenage years with her every move monitored by her parents, she abandoned the idea of academia in order to stay close to her mother Christina. She knows her fiancé Craig will always love and support her, but with Ivy back in her life, she can only watch as the cracks and lies in her family unravel.
DI ELLIOT CARNE’s gut instinct and all-consuming style of policing has led to him climbing the career ladder. Although he values his professional partnership with DS Merchant, he goes about their personal relationship somewhat nonchalantly. While his career means everything to him, he’s far from squeaky clean. What is he hiding and why is he so obsessed with protecting Ivy Moxam?
DS LISA MERCHANT is a brilliant detective. She interrogates everything and never accepts an easy answer. All ambition, she’s determined to become a DI before she turns thirty. More than a little in love with her colleague DI Carne, she can only watch as her partner gets drawn into the web that is Ivy Moxam. Will she be able to protect their relationship and reveal her true feelings to her partner?
TIM HOBSON was in relationship with Ivy before she was kidnapped. Madly in love, he held out hope she’d be found but as weeks became months and months became years, he fell apart. With his parents support, Tim got his life back on track and met his now wife, Yazz. Meeting Ivy after all this time that’s passed, he’s torn between his present life and the nostalgia of his past.
CRAIG WATTS is Emma Moxam’s loving and supporting fiancé who never fails to remind himself of how lucky he is to have her. Renowned for his patience, Craig has stood by Emma’s side through every sleepless night, every false sighting of Ivy and every bitter row with her parents. Although he’s happy about Ivy’s return, his relationship to Emma faces its biggest test yet.
ELOISE WYE is Ivy’s childhood best friend. Always the bad influence and never the one for academia, she tried to distract Ivy at all possible times. When her best friend disappeared, she swore off life and became self-destructive. With Ivy back in her life, Eloise must confront the mistakes she’s made in her past and start living.
HENRY STONE is the principal of the school Ivy used to attend. Now a widower, work is his salvation. Never a day without mulling over Ivy’s fate, he’s now challenged with facing the consequences of his past decisions and admitting he knows more about the case than the police and the community is aware off.
SYNOPSES – SPOILER WARNING
PART ONE – THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 10/9c
After 13 years held captive by her kidnapper, Ivy Moxam escapes from the cellar that has been her prison. Once at the police station, she’s interviewed by Detective Inspector Elliott Carne and Detective Sergeant Lisa Merchant. Ivy states to have never been let out all these years, but reveals very little about her captor. As the police locates the house where Ivy’s been held captive, her abductor has fled and destroyed most of the evidence. Looking to Ivy for leads in the case, it’s evident to the police that her statement has many loose ends. What is she hiding and why is she protecting the man who has harmed her?
PART TWO – THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 10/9c
The strain of playing a happy family is beginning to show, with the Moxam family treading on eggshells around Ivy, unsure of how to react when she drops unsettling hints about her life in the cellar. After discovering old surveillance footage of Ivy strolling around in a shopping mall with her abductor, Detective Sergeant Merchant questions if there’s any truth to Ivy’s story.
PART THREE – THURSDAY, JULY 7, 10/9c
The police investigation makes some breakthroughs, but with Ivy Moxam refusing to cooperate, Detective Inspector Elliott Carne is forced to drastic measures. As doubts about Ivy’s story grow, Detective Sergeant Lisa Merchant returns to the house where Ivy was held captive and makes a shocking discovery.
Parts 4 and 5 synopses will be released at a later date.
Created in 1998, BBC AMERICA is a hub of innovative, culturally contagious programming like the ground-breaking un-scripted series Top Gear, the top-rated science-fiction phenomenon Doctor Who, and the fan-favorite Orphan Black. The influential channel has been the launch pad for talent including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, and Graham Norton — all adopted as American pop culture icons. A joint venture between BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) and AMC Networks, BBCA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including four Emmy® Awards, five Golden Globes® and 12 Peabody Awards. The irrepressible network has garnered one of cable’s most curious, educated and affluent audiences, with many properties boasting super-fan levels of engagement. Available on cable and satellite TV in nearly 77 million homes, BBC AMERICA broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, is available On Demand across all major digital platforms and offers full episodes online at bbcamerica.com. Find out more by visiting press.bbcamerica.com or follow us on twitter.com/bbcamerica.
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