TV

Cush Jumbo and David Tennant face tragedy in suspenseful Deadwater Fell trailer

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Published on March 9, 2020 03:00PM EDT

Prepare for double the Cush Jumbo on television this spring. Not only is the British actress returning as ballsy lawyer Lucca Quinn in season 4 of The Good Fight, but you'll also be able to see her star alongside Doctor Who's David Tennant on Acorn TV's Deadwater Fell — and EW is exclusively debuting the trailer for the British psychological drama, which premieres April 6.

Set in a small Scottish town, the four-episode Deadwater Fell explores two seemingly perfect relationships that are racked by tragedy. First, there's the aspirational Dr. Tom Kendrick (Tennant) and his primary school teacher wife Kate (Anna Madeley), who have three girls together. Then, there's their best friends, school teacher Jess Milner (Jumbo) and police sergeant Steve Campbell (Matt McNulty). Unfortunately, this happy portrait goes up in flames one night when Kate and her daughters are found dead along with an unconscious Tom as their home burn around them. All signs point to the fact that they were murdered by someone they knew, and Jess' search for answers forces her to reconsider her friendship with Kate and her own life.

"[It was a] fabulous page turning script," Jumbo tells EW, explaining what attracted her to this project. "It was focusing on issues that I thought were dramatic and also really timely, and a close female friendship where you’re not quite how deep that friendship goes if they can’t really tell each other everything and this idea of psychological manipulation and psychological abuse."

Joining the drama, which was created by Grantchester's Daisy Coulam, also gave Jumbo a chance to play someone who was nothing like her Good Fight character. Whereas Lucca is proactive and says what she thinks, Jess is somewhat of a wallflower and has trouble making decisions for herself.

"What I loved about Jess is that she’s actually the eyes of the viewer. They’re watching this story and the truth of what has happened unfold through her. She’s only gradually, step by step working out what is true and what is fake. I loved the idea of being able to play someone who was only discovering things step by step," says Jumbo. "She’s also not your traditional hero or heroine in anyway. She’s somebody who finds herself kind of stuck in a situation where she’s kind of procrastinating about life. She is with someone she loves, but the relationship is in trouble [and] the IVF isn’t working. She doesn’t quite know how she ended up in this village with this life that doesn’t quite feel like it’s hers. She’s at a crossroads."

Jumbo continues: "When this tragedy happens with her best friend, she’s forced to confront the fact that maybe she’s been treading water for a while, and I liked that because I think there’s a lot of people out there in the audience, whether that be themselves or someone they know, who have people in their lives who procrastinate and don’t make firm decisions because they’re not quite sure what to do with their lives. I liked that about her, that she was an every-woman character, somebody people could relate to."

Overall, Jumbo believes viewers will be hooked by the drama's thriller aspect and the fact that it has a message that people may be able to relate to.

"You never know what direction it’s going in, so as a piece of entertainment, it’s a really thrilling drama and I think one of the most thrilling pieces of British drama that’s been made in years," she says. "One of the reasons it’s thrilling is because it’s so real, because it could really happen. Our show is set in this tiny Scottish bubble of a community, but in cities, we live in these little communities, these little bubbles, where we just go about our daily lives without really looking at what’s going on. I think it forces everybody to go in our friendships and in our families and our lives [and ask], 'Are we really being members of a community or are we just maybe subconsciously turning a blind eye to true things that are going on that need to be addressed?'"

Watch the trailer above.

Deadwater Fell premieres April 6 on Acorn TV. New episodes launch weekly.

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