3. The Cast
To tell a tale such as Southcliffe there is a need for great actors to contest the souls of such damaged and emotionally complex characters, so Durkin's drama had such. The assembly of famous names and seasoned character brought the tale to life. Sean Harris was cast as the haunting and somewhat tragic gunman, Stephen Morton. Harris, of 24 Hour Party People and Prometheus fame, had previously worked on Grisoni's penned Red Riding and was emphatic in his portrayal as the fragile and deluded Morton. Having already starred as the monstrous titular Creep and the unstable and villainous Moors murderer Ian Brady in the BAFTA Award-winning See No Evil: The Moors Murders, was perfectly casted as a character who embodies both the audiences detest and something close to sympathy. Shirley Henderson (recognised as Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter films) and Eddie Marsan (Mission: Impossible III, V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes, War Horse and like Sean Harris, Red Riding) play the Salters, a couple who lose their daughter to the shooting spree. The timid and mundane couple struggle to stay together following the loss as grief sends the two spiralling apart until a void is left. Henderson is remarkably impressive as Claire Salter - before the shooting she is having IVF treatments, wanting a baby to fill the void between herself and her husband as their teenage daughter looks to move away. But it is the forth episode of the series where Henderson truly eclipses her co-stars, as Claire searches for meaning in her life, searching for a Romanian woman she believes her been trafficked into the country as a sex slave. Skins alumni Joe Dempsie plays a soldier-on-leave who Morton takes under his wing on a mock military excursion. Dempsie portrays the arrogant and hardened soldier with moments of humanity in his visitation with a wounded friend who later succumbs to his wounds. Again, during the last episode he gets to show off his acting credentials, falling to his guilt over the trigger of Morton's murderous spree. Boardwalk Empire's Anatol Yusef plays Paul, an unlikeable, selfish, adulterer who risks his family life for a student's love. Following the massacre Paul has lost everything, he finally comes to realises his errors and begins his tormented descent into grief, self-destruction and depression. Paul is fantastically played by Yusef, the brutality of loss is connoted in an almost silent psychological breakdown that culminates in a distressful ending for the character, with Otis Redding's That's How Strong My Love Is echoing offering a poignant and shocking closing to the third episode.