FremantleMedia International to Rep BBC Drama Apple Tree Yard

LONDON: FremantleMedia International (FMI) has secured the international distribution rights for Apple Tree Yard, a psychological thriller starring Emily Watson and Ben Chaplin.

Produced by Kudos for BBC One, the four-part series is an adaptation of a novel by Louise Doughty. Watson plays a married woman with grown children whose chance encounter with a charismatic stranger (Chaplin) leads to an impulsive affair. Production is set to begin this month.

Lucy Richer, executive producer for the BBC, said: “Louise Doughty’s best-seller Apple Tree Yard is a book that is impossible to put down. We are thrilled to have a fantastic cast led by Emily Watson to bring this story to life on BBC One in Amanda Coe’s breath-taking adaptation of this absorbing and emotional thriller”.

Manda Levin, executive producer for Kudos, added: “The role of Yvonne Carmichael is a thrilling psychological rollercoaster that requires an actress to traverse an incredible range of emotional states. Wherever Emily Watson has to go in her work—even the darkest places, exploring the most hidden parts of ourselves—she always takes us with her, because she brings truth, spirit and heart to every character she plays.”

Watson remarked: “I am both relishing and daunted by the prospect of taking on this role; it’s grown up, steamy and of queasy moral complexity.”