Above: Alex Kingston talks about her role as Helen Maynard in the ITV drama series; Marchlands.
**
Marchlands is a five-part supernatural drama first shown on ITV in the United Kingdom on 3 February 2011, telling the story of three different families living in the same house at three different time periods, in 1968, 1987 and 2010. The three families are linked by the spirit of a young girl who died in mysterious circumstances in 1967. The first episode has the appearance of a ghost story spanning three different time periods and generations in a single house in Yorkshire.
In 1968, Ruth and Paul Bowen live in Marchlands with Paul's oppressive parents Robert and Evelyn. Six months earlier, Ruth and Paul's daughter Alice died and Ruth is determined to find out the truth about what happened to her, believing there is more to Alice's death than she is being led to believe.
In 1987, Helen and Eddie Maynard rent Marchlands and live with their two children. They discover their daughter Amy has what seems to be an imaginary friend called Alice, which they initially try to ignore. After a series of suspiciously paranormal activities, matters become more serious when Amy blames Alice for the death of a kitten, leading to her parents sending Amy for medical tests.
In 2010, Mark Ashburn and wife Nisha Parekh move into Marchlands and find a photo of a young girl, who the viewers now know to be Alice. Nisha becomes suspicious that Mark has not told her the whole truth about why they have moved there. An elderly Ruth, who never came to terms with the death of her child and still as determined to find out what happened, returns to Marchlands when Mark employs her as a housekeeper and child minder, after Nisha breaks her leg when falling from a step-ladder.
It was filmed on location around London and the Ashridge Estate with the village of Aldbury used frequently and the surrounding village of Little Gaddesden. The house in which it was filmed is in Tadworth. Marchlands marks the first commission to come from the creative collaboration between ITV & Twentieth Century Fox. It is based on the US Fox network pilot The Oaks, which was produced in the US in 2008. The drama is based on an original US pilot from David Schulner.
The series consisted of 5 episodes and achieved an average audience of 6.98 million viewers.
