Irish actor Aidan Gillen has been cast in new BBC One thriller ‘Mayday’. The ‘Game of Thrones’ actor will swap sword and fantasy for life in a small community playing single father Everett, who is struggling to trust any of his neighbours after a young girl disappears.
Filming is scheduled to begin in Dorking in the UK next week, with Academy Award-nominee Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) and ‘Spooks’ star Peter Firth starring alongside Gillen.
Brian Welsh (Black Mirror) will direct the five-part series which was written by ‘Whitechapel’ writers Ben Court and Caroline Ip. Chris Fry (Spooks) will produce while the BBC’s Polly Hill will executive produce with Jane Featherstone of Kudos Film and Television.
Jane Featherstone described ‘Mayday’ as “a highly authored serial which has attracted a brilliant cast and takes an original look at a familiar story. There are no police incident rooms, autopsies or crime scene investigations, instead this is about a town facing the reality that the killer is among them, one of them.”
Ben Stephenson, who commissioned the drama for the BBC, says ‘Whitechapel’ writing duo Court and Ip “have crafted a gripping thriller.”
Aidan Gillen currently portrays Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish in HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’. He is set to appear alongside fellow Irish actor Liam Neeson in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. He previously starred in RTÉ’s gangland drama ‘Love/Hate’, which is currently filming season three in Dublin.
‘Game of Thrones’ season two airs on Sky Atlantic on Monday nights at 9pm.
