Save Me (British TV series)

Save Me is a British television drama serial, written by, created by and starring Lennie James. It was first broadcast on Sky Atlantic on 28 February 2018, with all six episodes being released via Sky Box Sets and Now TV on the same day. Series two, entitled Save Me Too, was released in the same fashion on 1 April 2020.

Save Me
GenreDrama
Crime thriller
Written byLennie James, Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith
Directed byNick Murphy
Starring
ComposersDustin O'Halloran
Bryan Senti
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes12 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersSimon Heath
Jessica Sykes
ProducerPatrick Schweitzer
CinematographyChas Bain
EditorMeredith Leece
Running time50 minutes
Production companyWorld Productions
Distributor
  • Sky Vision (first series)
  • NBCUniversal Global Distribution (second series)
Release
Original networkSky Atlantic
Picture formatHDTV (1080i)
Audio formatStereo
Original release28 February 2018 (2018-02-28) –
present
External links
Production website

Sky Vision distributed the first series worldwide, but the distribution rights for the second series were picked up by Sky's sister company NBCUniversal.[1][2] In the U.S., the series was picked up by Starz, where the series has been available on Starz on Demand since 6 September 2018.[3] It was released on Starz Cinema on 11 May 2019.

The series stars Lennie James as Nelson "Nelly" Rowe, a down-and-out whose life is turned upside down when Jody, the estranged daughter he fathered thirteen years ago, mysteriously disappears. He begins a determined quest to get to the bottom of things and find his daughter, lying, begging favours and stretching his friendships to the limit in the process. Suranne Jones stars as Claire McGory, Jody's mother. Aside from James and Jones, Stephen Graham and Jason Flemyng as friends Melon and Tam are also credited as principal members of the cast.

The series was green-lit in January 2017, under the original working title of Gone. James reunited with World Productions for the series, with whom he previously worked on the first series of Line of Duty.[4]

Following strong critical reception for the first series, a second series was released in 2020, with the altered title Save Me Too.[5] A DVD of the first series was released via Acorn Media on 7 May 2018.[6]

Cast

Main cast
  • Lennie James as Nelson "Nelly" Rowe, a down-and-out, sofa-surfing womaniser
  • Suranne Jones as Claire McGory, Nelly's former lover and mother of Jody
  • Stephen Graham as Fabio "Melon" Melonzola, Nelly's best friend, a computer expert and convicted sex offender
  • Jason Flemyng as Tam, a friend of Nelly's, a cross-dresser and strip club bartender

Recurring cast
  • Susan Lynch as Stace, a childhood friend of Nelly's and landlady of The Palm Tree, his local pub
  • Kerry Godliman as Martine "Teens" Betts, Nelly's girlfriend at the start of the series, whom he remains friends with afterwards
  • Olivia Gray as Grace, trafficked teen whom Nelly saves and who resembles his missing daughter
  • Nadine Marshall as Detective Sergeant Shola O'Halloran, DCI Thorpe's deputy
  • Barry Ward as Barry McGory, Claire's husband and Jody's adoptive father, an apparently wealthy club owner
  • Alan McKenna as Detective Chief Inspector Ian Thorpe, senior investigating officer into Jody's disappearance
  • Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness as Jody McGory, Nelly and Claire's thirteen-year-old daughter and Barry's adopted daughter
  • Phil Dunster as BJ McGory, Barry's son and Claire's stepson
  • Thomas Coombes as Goz, a drug dealer and friend of Nelly's
  • Alice Feetham as Bernie Melonzola, Melon's wife, whom he was convicted of having sex with when she was fifteen
  • Camilla Beeput as Zita, Nelly's occasional girlfriend, a stripper
  • Nicholas Croucher as Dylan, Jody's best friend and next-door neighbour
  • Struan Rodger as Richard, owner of an illicit paedophile bar and brothel
  • Ryan McKen as DC Leo Rainsford, a detective working on Jody's case
  • Alexander Arnold as Luke, a student and regular at The Palm Tree
  • Ragevan Vasan as Gavin, a student and regular at The Palm Tree, Luke's friend and flatmate
  • Remmie Milner as Daisy, Goz's girlfriend and mother of his child
  • Jimmy Walker as Marky Betts, Teens' son, a strip club doorman
  • Mia Austen as PC Helen Long, the McGorys' family liaison officer
  • Adrian Edmondson as Gideon Charles, a major figure in the paedophile ring
  • Lesley Manville as Jennifer Charles, the wife of Gideon

Episodes
SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1628 February 2018 (2018-02-28)4 April 2018 (2018-04-04)
261 April 2020 (2020-04-01)

Series 1 (2018)

Airdates listed as per the Sky Atlantic broadcast. All episodes of this series were available to download from Sky Box Sets and Now TV from 28 February 2018.

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [7]
1"Episode 1"Nick MurphyLennie James28 February 2018 (2018-02-28)1.42
Nelson "Nelly" Rowe, a self-styled womaniser, has his life is turned upside down when the police suddenly burst into his flat and arrest him on suspicion of kidnapping. Nelly discovers that his supposed victim is his estranged thirteen-year-old daughter Jody, whom he has not seen in ten years. After attempting to convince the police of his innocence, Nelly decides to take matters into his own hands and track Jody down himself. Later that night, Nelly is attacked after his girlfriend's son discovers he has been cheating on her with a number of other women.
2"Episode 2"Nick MurphyLennie James7 March 2018 (2018-03-07)N/A
Tam helps Nelly get back on his feet. Barry makes a surprising reward offer at a press conference, leading Claire to suspect his motives. When Melon disappears after being arrested, Nelly suspects he may be involved in Jody's disappearance and with the help of Goz, decides to track him down. Nelly also approaches Jody's best friend, Dylan, whom he suspects may know more about what happened on the night she disappeared.
3"Episode 3"Nick MurphyLennie James14 March 2018 (2018-03-14)N/A
Nelly confronts Melon and questions him over Jody's disappearance. Thorpe and O'Halloran reveal to Claire and Barry that the police received a distress call from Jody over two weeks ago, the day after she went missing. Claire helps out with a press drive organised by Stace.
4"Episode 4"Nick MurphyDaniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith21 March 2018 (2018-03-21)N/A
After the police reveal a possible location from where the distress call was made, Nelly decides to go door-to-door in an attempt to find the house where Jody is being held, and finds an abandoned house which is partially boarded up. Later that night, he and Claire decide to investigate. They break into the house, only to find Jody's bloodstained jumper. Meanwhile, Zita discloses a possible lead in the form of a local brothel, run by a paedophile kingpin. With Melon's help, Nelly trawls the darkweb and finds a videoclip of another girl being abused in the room where Jody was being held.
5"Episode 5"Nick MurphyLennie James28 March 2018 (2018-03-28)N/A
Nelly begs Melon to help him get close to brothel owner Richard, in the hope that he will lead him to Jody. Melon learns that a young girl answering Jody's description is to be sold through an auction at the brothel in just five days time. Nelly begs Claire to stump up £15,000 to allow him access to the auction. Meanwhile, Goz discovers a semi-naked picture of Jody in Gavin's room, and just hours later, Gavin takes his own life. Nelly suspects Gavin of being involved in Jody's disappearance, until Luke slips up and reveals a vital clue which points towards him being involved.
6"Episode 6"Nick MurphyLennie James4 April 2018 (2018-04-04)N/A
Nelly stages a lock-in and confronts Luke over his involvement in Jody's disappearance. Claire manages to find £12,000 which Nelly takes along to the auction, but he soon realises that he is out of his depth. Claire resorts to drastic measures in an attempt to get Luke to talk.

Series 2 (2020)

All episodes of this series were available to download from Sky Box Sets and Now TV from 1 April 2020.

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1"Jim LoachLennie James1 April 2020 (2020-04-01)N/A
2"Episode 2"Jim LoachDaniel Fajemisin-Duncan & Marlon Smith1 April 2020 (2020-04-01)N/A
3"Episode 3"Jim LoachEmer Kenny1 April 2020 (2020-04-01)N/A
4"Episode 4"Coky GiedroycLennie James1 April 2020 (2020-04-01)N/A
5"Episode 5"Coky GiedroycLennie James1 April 2020 (2020-04-01)N/A
6"Episode 6"Coky GiedroycLennie James1 April 2020 (2020-04-01)N/A

References
  1. Productions, World. "Save Me Too". World Productions. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  2. Productions, World. "Save Me - World Productions". World Productions. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  3. White, Peter (23 August 2018). "Starz Picks Up Gritty British Drama 'Save Me' From 'Fear The Walking Dead's Lennie James – Edinburgh".
  4. Lodderhose, Diana (20 January 2017). "Lennie James' 'Gone' Heads To Sky Atlantic; 'The Tunnel: Vengeance' Returns For Final Series".
  5. Daly, Helen (2 March 2018). "Save Me cast member Lennie James CONFIRMS season two: 'It was always my intention'".
  6. "Save Me". 7 May 2018 – via Amazon.
  7. "Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 3 May 2018. (User must select "Others" in the Channel field and then select the appropriate year, month and week to retrieve the figure for each episode)
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