The Secrets was a series of one-off dramas. Each is an explosive story with a secret at the heart of it. Dominic Savage directed all five.
Episode 1 - The Dilemma
Pregnant vet Pippa visits her terminally ill mother Angela, whom she feels should move into a hospice. Angela however wants Pippa to end her life using the medication with which she puts sick animals to sleep. Pippa's husband Shaun totally opposes the idea but Pippa becomes more convinced that it is the right thing to do and, following a break-in at the surgery, she has an idea as to what should be done.
Written by
Nick Payne
Cast
Olivia Colman ... Pippa
Steve Oram ... Shaun
Alison Steadman ... Angela
Louise Kempton ... Alison Johnson
Wanda Opalinska ... Stephanie Ward
Episode 2 - The Conversation
On the eve of her wedding to Tom Charlotte admits to a threesome she had some years ago but is shocked when his confession regards an alleged rape charge, never proved, by a former girlfriend. She tells her mother, who advises her to forget it but still wonders whether to go through with the wedding, especially as her sister Bee advises against it. Charlotte marries Tom but wonders whether Bee may have had her own reasons for giving her advice.
Written by
Sarah Solemani
Cast
Sarah Solemani ... Charlotte
Rupert Evans ... Tom
Harriet Thorpe ... Lynn
Michael Gould ... Doug
Anna Koval ... Bee
Episode 3 - The Visitor
Young Dean is surprised when he is approached by Cassie, who claims that she is his sister, parted when he was taken for adoption and who tells him that their parents have just died in a car crash. He brings her home to meet his adoptive parents Nigel and Julie. Nigel is welcoming and wants her to stay but Julie and her son Alec are suspicious - and with some cause as Cassie has not been totally honest with them.
Written by
Ben Ockrent
Cast
Helen Baxendale ... Julie
Charlie Rowe ... Alec
Anthony Welsh ... Dean
Anthony Flanagan ... Nigel
Paige Meade ... Cassie
Episode 4 - The Lie
A chance call from a doctors' surgery leads housewife and mother Lexie Turner to learn that her husband Philip is leading a double life with another wife, therapist Zara, and their child. Posing as a client Lexie visits Zara to sound her out before angrily confronting Philip. The women meet to discuss what they should do but when Philip arrives and suggests they continue the arrangement an irate Lexie walks out.
Written by
Elinor Cook
Cast
Joanne Froggatt ... Lexie
Emilia Fox ... Zara
Ben Chaplin ... Philip
Scarlet Billham ... Surgery Receptionist
Sophie Thompson ... Becca
Episode 5 - The Return
Happily engaged to Lorna, policeman Ray is pleased when his brother Anthony, jailed after succumbing to bad company, comes to visit. But Anthony was once the boyfriend of Lorna and will not accept that she now wants to be with Ray. He breaks into their house at night, brandishing a gun and threatening to kill Ray, who has no choice but to turn him in.
Written by
Nick Payne and Dominic Savage
Cast
Ashley Walters ... Ray
Pippa Bennett-Warner ... Lorna
Ross Boatman ... Dave
Tosin Cole ... Anthony
Alesha Wilson ... Natalie
