| The Children | |
|---|---|
| Format | Drama |
| Created by | Lucy Gannon |
| Directed by | David Evans |
| Starring | Lesley Sharp Geraldine Somerville Kevin Whately |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV (ITV1/UTV/STV) |
| Original run | 1 September 2008 – 15 September 2008 |
The Children is a three part 2008 drama miniseries written by Lucy Gannon and produced for ITV. It stars Lesley Sharp, Geraldine Somerville and Kevin Whately, and premiered on ITV at 9pm on Monday 1 September, 2008.
The plot centred around the dysfunctional lives of Cameron (Whately), Sue (Somerville) and Sue's daughter, Emily, (Sinéad Michael). Sue's ex-husband was DJ Paul (Ian Puleston-Davies) and his new girlfriend Natasha (Kate Ashfield), and Cameron's ex-wife Anne (Sharpe) and their son Jack (Freddie Boath).
The main plot is surrounding the family life at home living as a step family, and is told in a backwards flashback mode.
Arguments and tension rise throughout the 3 episodes and eventually following her strange and naughty behaviour, little Emily is killed. Any one of the adults could have been responsible and were placed at the scene.
As the show reaches its climax, Cameron is shown hitting Emily and accidentally smashing her through a glass patio door, however there is a twist to the tale as all the suspects are then seen killing her one by one, all except one of them.
The show's ending, which showed Natasha (the only character not seen killing Emily) crying and sobbing "I'm sorry," was panned by critics, due to the fact viewers were not shown how or indeed why Natasha killed her.