Filming Begins for New BBC One Thriller

Sister has begun filming the thriller Better, starring Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie, Avenue 5), for BBC One.

Set and shot in Leeds, the series tells the story of detective Lou Slack, whose success was founded on corruption and deceit. After tragedy nearly strikes her family, she finds her conscious and begins her battle toward redemption.

Farzad stars as Slack, while Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch, The Honourable Woman, ABC Murders) has been cast as the businessman and property developer who helped turn her career around through a corrupt deal.

The cast also includes Samuel Edward-Cook (Peaky Blinders), Zak Ford-Williams (Wolfe), Ceallach Spellman (Cold Feet), Carolin Stoltz (Liar), Anton Lesser (Killing Eve, The Trial of Christine Keeler) and Olivia Nakintu (Vera).

Better is written by Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent (Humans, Spooks). It is executive produced by Mona Qureshi and Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC and Jane Featherstone (This is Going to Hurt, Chernobyl, The Split), Chris Fry (Landscapers, Giri/Haji, Humans), Lucy Dyke (The Split, Black Mirror, Eric), Brackley and Vincent for Sister in association with Northern Sister. Jonathan Brough (The End, Rosehaven) is lead director.

All3Media International will distribute the series globally.

“Better is a brilliant fresh take on the morality tale,” said Farzad. “I am excited to have the opportunity to play Lou Slack, the vehicle through which we explore the multivalent layers of good and bad. A complex, flawed, yet utterly human character. I feel very lucky to be part of such a wonderful show with an incredibly talented team attached to it.”

Brackley and Vincent said, “We’re delirious and feel incredibly fortunate to have assembled—with Sister and the BBC—such a gifted group of people to tell this story in the great city of Leeds, with a wealth of local Yorkshire talent on and off camera. This incredible cast are exciting us every day, pushing the show’s exploration of morality and redemption to ever more thrilling, surprising and yet darkly funny places. With any luck, we’ve got enough brilliant people to make ourselves look good.”

“Jonathan and Sam have created an iconic character in Lou Slack, and we are delighted that Leila Farzad is bringing her to life, alongside her brilliant partner in crime, Andrew Buchan,” commented Nawfal Faizullah, commissioning executive at BBC Drama. “We’re excited to be working with Sister again, and we can’t wait for audiences to be hooked by this thrilling story of redemption.”

Representatives for Sister added, “We are thrilled to have teamed up with the brilliant duo of Sam and Jon again on this series. The propulsion of their storytelling and their complex characters with depth and wit is what makes Better such an incredible piece. Not anyone could evoke the complexity of unconventional hero Lou Slack—morally complicated and challenging yet with huge heart. Luckily we don’t  have just anyone—we have the ferocious talent of Leila Farzad. And bringing an entirely new perspective on the modern crime boss is the equally brilliant Andy Buchan as Col McHugh. We are delighted to have these two extraordinary actors anchoring this complex thriller with lead director Jonathan Brough at the helm, bringing the streets of Leeds to life in a new and exciting way.”