The Five (also known as Harlan Coben's The Five) is a British mystery thriller miniseries created by crime author Harlan Coben and written by Danny Brocklehurst, Mick Ford, Dan Sefton, and John Jackson. Tom Cullen, O. T. Fagbenle, Lee Ingleby and Sarah Solemani star as childhood friends Mark, Danny, Slade, and Pru, who are reunited when DNA evidence left at a murder scene is revealed to be from Mark's younger brother Jesse, who disappeared twenty years earlier. The series first broadcast on 15 April 2016 on Sky1 and consists of ten episodes, with two episodes broadcast each week consecutively. Set in the fictional town of Westbridge, the series was filmed in Liverpool, Wirral, Runcorn and surrounding areas including Frodsham.
Contents
Plot
In 1995, four young school friends, Mark, Danny, Slade and Pru are left traumatized after Mark's five-year-old brother Jesse disappears after playing in the park with them. No trace of Jesse has ever been found. Serial killer Jakob Marosi, who had been charged with five other murders, claimed that he killed Jesse. Jesse's parents, Julie and Alan, had given up all hope of ever finding the boy alive.
Twenty years on, Danny Kenwood is a Detective Sergeant working for Westbridge Police. When he attends the scene of a murder, he finds prostitute Annie Green, who has been brutally attacked with a hammer. A forensic analysis of DNA evidence from the crime scene provides a match for Jesse's DNA. An intricate web of trials and tribulations begins to unfold as the four childhood friends re-unite in the hope of finding Jesse alive.
Cast
Main
Tom Cullen as Mark Wells, a lawyer in his 30s who aids in the search for missing people in his spare time
Aedan Duckworth as young Mark
Haris Giannakopoulos as younger Mark
O. T. Fagbenle as D.S. Danny Kenwood, a detective working for Westbridge Police
Freedom Doran as young Danny
Lee Ingleby as Slade, a childhood friend of Mark, Danny and Pru, who runs a shelter for vulnerable young people
Billy Kennedy as young Slade
Sarah Solemani as Pru Carew, a doctor who has returned home after living in the United States for fourteen years
Megan Bradley as young Pru
Supporting
Alfie and Harry Bloor as Jesse Wells, Mark's brother, who has been missing for twenty years
Don Warrington as Ray Kenwood, a retired police officer and Danny's father, who is suffering from severe Alzheimer's disease
Wil Johnson as young Ray
Lorraine Burroughs as Jennifer Kenwood, Danny's wife
Alicia Charles as Sarah Kenwood
Hannah Arterton as D.C. Ally Caine, Danny's partner
Tom Brittney as D.C. Ken Howells, the lead forensic scientist in Danny's team and Karl's best friend
Vicky Myers as Selena Callaway, an IT consultant that is found dead
Honeysuckle Weeks as Laura Marshall, a married woman having an affair with Mark
Tom Price as Kenton Marshall, Laura's husband and a geography teacher
Sophia La Porta as Britnay Shearer, a volunteer at Slade's shelter
Martin McCreadie as D.C. Karl Hatchett, a forensic analyst in Danny's team who is attracted to Ally
Arthur Byrne as young Karl
Geraldine James as Julie Wells, Mark's mother
Shauna Macdonald as young Julie
Syrus Lowe as Larry / Larita, Mark's crossdressing paralegal secretary