River, the acclaimed cop drama starring Nicola Walker and Stellan Skarsgård, has landed today [Thursday, May 8] on ITVX to watch for free as a box set.
Originally, this excellent crime series aired on BBC One in 2015 and was then only available to watch on Netflix.
But now ITVX has the six-part series, which sees Stellan Skarsgård star as Metropolitan Police DI John River, who is struggling in the wake of personal and professional trauma.
Walker plays River's colleague and confidant, Detective Sergeant Jackie "Stevie" Stevenson. River was created by Abi Morgan, who went on to make The Split, which also stars Walker.
Describing River at the time, Walker said: "It doesn’t fit into a neat breakdown. On the surface, it looks like a murder story, a police show, but obviously it's so much more than that. What you move into is an observation of a man's journey through extreme grief, which is sweetened by the fact that the person that he loves and lost is still there with him."
Teasing the plot, ITV says River is "a man haunted by the murder victims whose secrets he must unlock, a man who walks a professional tightrope between a pathology so extreme he risks permanent dismissal, and a healthy state of mind that could cure him of his gift.
"Adrift in a London full of other exiled souls, River's own isolation helps him connect with the troubled victims who crash into his world, and to see the truth in ways his colleagues are drawn to admire and question, in equal measure. But as his long-held defences are eroded by love and loss, River is torn between the living and the dead; will he have to choose once and for all?”
Lesley Manville also stars as Chief Inspector Chrissie Reid, while Eddie Marsan appears as a notorious killer who taunts and torments River.
Axed after one season
Ironically, despite having a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating, the BBC axed River after just one series, presumably because it didn't win a big enough audience.
Walker, who found fame in Touching Evil and Spooks, has also starred in Last Tango in Halifax and Unforgotten.
River is on ITVX now as a box set. Check out our best ITV dramas guide for more series to enjoy.
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