Its title was a bit of a tip-off, but things weren’t as cosy as they seemed in Channel 5’s intriguing new drama The Cuckoo . With viewers primed to spot an interloper in the nest (or rather, the sprawling family farmhouse where the series was set), its first episode delivered that promised plot with expert pacing, dropping tantalising clues along the way. Between her fraught relationship with her teenage daughter Alice (Freya Hannan-Mills), and her embattled marriage to husband Nick ( Lee Ingleby ), Jessica Haynes (Claire Goose) couldn’t seem to catch a break. So when charismatic artist Sian ( Jill Halfpenny ) answered the family’s ad for a lodger – “I was passing… just thought I’d chance my arm” – Jessica thought she’d struck some overdue good luck. But given the viewer was primed to spot an invader, there was something fishy about Sian’s faux nonchalance – textbook dramatic irony, and very effective it was too. Cementing her place in the house by whipping out an envelope full of cash to cover a surprising bill – “No pressure but, you know, if it helps” – Sian moved in almost instantly. And while Nick was shaken at coming home to find a stranger living in his house, Sian wasted little time ingratiating herself with Alice and Jessica, cooking elaborate breakfasts and positioning herself as more of a friend than a housemate. Although her motives were a mystery, it was clear that Sian wanted to get as close as possible to the Haynes family; one by one, she found ways to manipulate them. And when Jessica opened up over a drink, she had the ammunition she needed to control both halves of the couple: “Nick had an affair. […] It was this woman at work, so now there’s no
Job. We bought the farm to flip it but now we’re stuck here.” While Sian’s behaviour with Jessica seemed to be a straightforward means to an end, her interest in Alice was charged with something different. As she bonded with the prickly teenager over their shared love of art, there was a distinct sincerity to her flattery: “You really have something,” she said. “I see you, Alice.” Silky and sinister, Halfpenny’s performance lent Sian a chilling intensity; her flinty gaze suggested someone willing to go to extreme lengths for what she wanted. But what was that? Read Next How Channel 5 reinvented
British drama Despite Sian’s charm offensive, Nick’s suspicions grew, but with Jessica refusing to question her new friend, he was forced to take matters into his own hands. Behind the couple’s divergent approaches was the spectre of Nick’s infidelity, adding complexity to their characters and colouring their every interaction with unspoken tension – a dynamic not lost on Sian, who used it to her advantage when Nick abruptly asked her to leave. ‘I’ve seen the way you look at me”, she said. “I could leave, but I’m just wondering how that’s going to look for Jessica and Alice…” Tense scenes of Sian and Nick slinking around the house, each trying to simultaneously avoid and survey the other, built to the episode’s crescendo – such enjoyable suspense made it easier to forgive the show’s more eye-roll worthy moments (Nick swinging aside a family portrait (!) to reveal a secret safe (!), for instance, seemed especially heavy handed). Despite the occasional lapse into cliche, the show was far slicker than it was silly. As Sian delivered a delicious cliffhanger during a
Late Night phone call: “I’ve found her; I’m going to get my baby back” – the stage was set for a best-in-class weeknight drama as The Cuckoo ’s first episode came to a close. Well paced, well written, well acted – The Cuckoo might not be reinventing its genre, but it’s pretty exemplary of it.