The Secrets She Keeps on iPlayer - Plot, cast and everything you need to know

Meghan and Agatha in The Secret She Keeps
(Image credit: BBC / Lingo Pictures / John Platt)

This series is based on the best-selling novel...

The Secrets She Keeps is a six-part BBC drama available on iPlayer - see our BBC dramas 2020 guide for more top dramas to watch on iPlayer.

Here's everything you need to know about the thriller, which stars Downton Abbey's Laura Carmichael...

What is The Secrets She Keeps about?

In an affluent Sydney suburb, two women have a chance encounter in a supermarket. They are the same age and both are pregnant.

But they have different lives, as Agatha works in the supermarket as a shelf-stacker whilst Meghan is a "mummy blogger" on the rise.

Due to their different incomes, Agatha lives in a grubby flat whilst Meghan is comfortably middle-class, so the women couldn't be more different.

Agatha is jealous of Meghan, her blog and her two kids, wishing she could have that life for herself.

In fact Agatha has a secret, dark past when it comes to newborn babies. We soon find out that all is not as it seems regarding Agatha’s own pregnancy.

And Meghan is hiding secrets too, with both women’s lives set to implode as a result of their hidden truths.

The series is inspired by a real-life hospital kidnap in the 1990s, and viewers should expect a "taut thriller as well as a sociological portrait".

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Laura Carmichael in The Secrets She Keeps on BBC1

Meghan Shaughnessy (Jessica de Gouw) and Agatha Fyfle (Laura Carmichael) have a chance encounter at a supermarket.

Who stars in the series?

Agatha is played by Downton Abbey star Laura Carmichael, known for her role as Lady Edith Crawley.

But now she's swapping the affluent lifestyle for greasy hair and jeans, as she explores this intriguing new role.

Teasing the role, she told us, "Her desire to be a mother flips into something quite dangerous, but I think our sympathies move back and forth between the two women and, with Agatha, there are points where you want her to be happy and even moments where you will her to win."

Laura Carmichael in The Secrets She Keeps

What is Agatha hiding?

As for blogger Meghan Shaughnessy, she's played by Arrow actress Jessica de Gouw, and soon finds herself stalked by Agatha.

Laura added, "Meghan has everything Agatha doesn’t and she makes life look so easy. She’s that kind of person who just drops the kids off at school looking like a model, so you can see where the envy comes in!

"We see Agatha sneaking into the bottom of Meghan’s garden without being noticed, but there’s a kind of hero worship there, too. Of course, Meghan’s life isn’t perfect, either, though – it all runs so deep."

Supporting cast includes Michael Dorman as Jack O'Shaughnessy, Ryan Corr as Simon Beecher and Michael Sheasby as Hayden Cole.

Is there a trailer?

Yes. There's a 2 and a half minute trailer to give you a taste of what to expect.

In it, we see Meghan's seemingly glamorous life and Agatha's growing obsession. But something's not right...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TRG68kHZ88

When can we watch it?

It's now available to watch on iPlayer (see our TV Guide for more shows to enjoy).

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.


She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress