Utopia (British TV series)

• Fiona O'Shaughnessy as Jessica Hyde, a woman who has been on the run from The Network for as long as she can remember. Her father, Philip Carvel, created the Utopia manuscripts. Aine Garvey portrays a young Jessica.
• Alexandra Roach as Becky, a post-grad student. Convinced there is a conspiracy surrounding her father's death connected to the Utopia manuscript, she is determined to find out the truth. She suffers from the mysterious "Deel's syndrome," for which she has been taking medication.[13]
• Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Ian Johnson, an IT consultant who still lives with his mother.[14]
• Adeel Akhtar as Wilson Wilson, a survivalist conspiracy theorist. He finds his loyalties divided as he learns more about The Network's plans.
• Oliver Woollford as Grant Leetham, a troubled 11-year-old boy. Originally pretending to be an adult online, he ends up with the Utopia manuscript. He is later framed for a school shooting and forced to go on the run.
• Paul Higgins as Michael Dugdale, a civil servant who finds himself blackmailed by The Network over his affair with a Russian sex worker.[15]
• Neil Maskell as Arby, a Network agent searching for Jessica Hyde and the Utopia manuscript. He is unstable and emotionally disconnected.[16] Mason and Harley Rooney portray a Young Arby.
• Geraldine James as Milner, an MI5 agent whom the group turns to for help. Rose Leslie portrays a younger Milner.

• Ruth Gemmell as Jen Dugdale, Michael's wife.
• Emilia Jones as Alice Ward, a schoolgirl who becomes embroiled in the conspiracy after Grant meets her and hides the Utopia manuscript in her bedroom.
• Alistair Petrie as Geoff Lawson, Secretary of State for Health and Michael's boss, an inside man for The Network.
• Paul Ready as Lee, Arby's partner. He takes a special delight in interrogation and torture.
• Simon McBurney (series 1) and Michael Maloney (season 2) as Christian Donaldson, a scientist whom Michael asks for help.
• James Fox as Letts' Assistant (series 1–2). Ed Birch portrays a younger Assistant.
• Stephen Rea as Conran Letts (series 1), part of a biological sciences company and apparent head of The Network.
• Anna Madeley as Anya Levchenko (series 1), a Russian sex worker with whom Michael is having an affair.
• Mark Stobbart as Bejan Chervo (series 1), the finder of the Utopia II manuscript who invites Ian, Becky, Grant and Wilson to meet him. Before he can do so, he is murdered by Arby and Lee.
• Sylvestra Le Touzel as Leah Gorsand (series 2), CEO of Rochane Foundation, an NGO funding the Russian flu vaccine campaign, underwriting the cost for countries that cannot afford it.
• Ian McDiarmid as 'Anton' (series 2), a confused old Romanian who is in fact the scientist Philip Carvel, the long thought dead creator of 'The Utopia Experiments'. Tom Burke portrays a younger Carvel.

• Michael Smiley as Detective Inspector Joshua Reynolds (season 1), a police officer investigating Bejan's death.
• Alan Bentley as Scientist (series 1–2). Ian Porter portrays a younger Scientist.
• Eleanor Matsuura as Bev (series 1), Michael's colleague who signs off on the purchase of the Russian flu vaccine.
• Gerard Monaco as Joe (series 1–2), Ian's colleague.
• Anca-Ioana Androne as Brosca (series 2), Philip Carvel's wife.
• Emil Hostina as Marius (series 2), a Romanian translator whom Becky, Grant, and Ian use to communicate with Anton/Philip Carvel.
• Kevin Eldon as Tony Bradley (series 2), a scientist and author of a book on Deel's Syndrome.
• Will Attenborough as Ben (series 2), a member of a hacking collective member who assists the main characters.
• Juliet Cowan as Bridget (series 2), a scientist colleague of Michael who notices discrepancies in government plans for the Russian flu vaccine.
• Sacha Dhawan as Paul Simpson (series 2), a Network sleeper agent.
• Steven Robertson as Terrence Truman (series 2), another Network sleeper agent.
• David Calder as Dobri Gorski (series 2), Donaldson's former professor who attempted to fake his death to evade The Network.

Kudos Film and Television approached Kelly with an idea about a conspiracy hidden inside a graphic novel.[19] Kelly liked some of the idea, but changed some of the others. The story involved a shadowy organisation called The Network, and Kelly initially came out with an idea that The Network might be responsible for the rise in conspiracy theories because they thought it would be the best way to hide an actual conspiracy.[20] Kelly said he does not believe in conspiracy theories, but is fascinated by them.[21] The series took about two years to come to fruition.[20]

To emulate the graphic novel printing process, Marc Munden chose to use a Technicolor palette: "The three-strip Technicolor process we use is comprised of the opposite colours – yellows, cyan, magentas. I was interested in Doris Day films from the 1950s that pushed those distinct elements." Colourist Aidan Farrell used grading software Nucoda Film Master to paint bolder colours into the shots. By the second series the production crew were preparing the film sets for grading.[22]

Utopia is set in London, but was filmed mostly in Merseyside and Yorkshire between April and October 2012, while the panning shot of the Mercury Hotel in the first episode was filmed in Westhoughton. Producer Bekki Wray-Rogers claimed the reason for this was that no other area in the UK could have provided them with such a variety of locations.[1] Some scenes, such as the office of Conran Letts, were filmed at Scarisbrick Hall near Ormskirk. Scenes for the school shooting in episode 3 were filmed at Alsop High School in Walton whilst the school was closed for summer in July 2012. The empty red sandstone stately home the group make use of from episode 4 is filmed at Woolton Hall. The café scene in the fifth episode is filmed at TC's Cafe & Take-Away on Southport New Road near the village of Mere Brow.[23] Many scenes were filmed in Crosby and Skelmersdale. Scenes set in the office of a fictional newspaper were shot in the offices of the Liverpool Echo newspaper on Old Hall Street in Liverpool. The final scene of the first series, with Jessica and Milner, was shot atop the Cunard Building, one of Liverpool's "three graces".

In the second series, locations used included Barnsley Interchange in Barnsley, Temple Works in Leeds, The Chocolate Works in York, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, and various spots in Leeds city centre, which doubled as London by superimposing London landmarks on the horizon.[24][25] The scene in which Mr Rabbit and Philip Carvel meet was filmed at Allerton Castle near Harrogate. The abandoned building in the second episode of series 2 was shot in Abbotsford School in The Gorbals, Glasgow.

The TV drama referenced a number of real world events, and incorporated these events into the story of the conspiracy. In the second series, the show used various news footage from the 1970s including the assassinations of Aldo Moro, Carmine Pecorelli, Richard Sykes, and Airey Neave.[26] The TWA Flight 841 disaster is also referenced in this episode. In particular, several events from a 10-day period in 1979, including the Three Mile Island accident and the collapse of the Labour government, had been combined as a jumping off point for the second series.[27]

Utopia was cancelled by Channel Four on the 12 August 2014. The network's official statement was:[28]

Utopia is truly channel-defining: strikingly original, powered by Dennis Kelly's extraordinary voice and brought to life in all its technicolor glory through Marc Munden's undeniable creative flair and vision, the team at Kudos delivered a series which has achieved fervent cult status over two brilliantly warped and nail-biting series. It also has the honour of ensuring audiences will never look at a spoon in the same way again. It’s always painful to say goodbye to shows we love, but it’s a necessary part of being able to commission new drama, a raft of which are launching on the channel throughout 2015.

The series soundtrack was composed by Cristobal Tapia de Veer.[52] The album entitled Utopia (Original Television Soundtrack) was released 7 October 2013, on both CD and MP3 download by Silva Screen Music. In August 2014 a contest was announced on Facebook to create a remix of the "Utopia Overture".

Cristobal Tapia De Veer announced via Twitter that the Series 2 soundtrack was coming December 8. It was then released that day, and is now available on major music streaming services. It is also available for purchase as a CD/DVD.

1. "Utopia Overture" (3:32)
2. "The Network" (3:21)
3. "Dislocated Thumbs (Pt. 1)" (2:17)
4. "Mr. Rabbit's Game" (1:05)
5. "Conspiracy (Pt. 1)" (2:53)
6. "Meditative Chaos" (3:10)
7. "A New Brand of Drug" (2:13)
8. "Samba De Wilson" (2:15)
9. "Slivovitz" (1:43)
10. "Bekki On Pills (Pt. 1)" (1:01)
11. "Where Is Jessica Hyde? (Pt. 1)" (3:39)
12. "Arby's Oratorio" (1:38)
13. "Jessica Gets Off" (3:18)
14. "Mr. Rabbit It Is" (2:51)
15. "Lovechild" (1:03)
16. "Mind Vortex" (2:48)
17. "Twat" (2:02)
18. "Bekki On Pills (Pt. 2)" (3:16)
19. "Fertility Control" (1:50)
20. "Janus Saves" (2:51)
21. "Evil Prevails" (2:55)
22. "Conspiracy (Pt. 2)" (4:56)
23. "Dislocated Thumbs (Pt. 2)" (1:28)
24. "Utopia Descent" (2:42)
25. "Where Is Jessica Hyde? (Pt. 2)" (4:08)
26. "Utopia's Death Cargo" (1:38)
27. "The Experiment" (6:16)
28. "Utopia Finale" (2:35)