Helping to blow away those New Year cobwebs is a brand new six-part fantasy thriller from Kudos, the makers of Spooks, Hustle and… er …Outcasts, due to air on Channel 4 in the UK from January 15th at 10pm. The six-part series is written by Dennis Kelly and the cast includes Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits), Neil Maskell (Kill List), James Fox (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Sherlock Holmes), Paul Hibbins (The Thick Of It) and Michael Smiley (Spaced / Kill List). The series’ synopsis has a definite conspiracy theory/DaVinci Code vibe about it but it has a decent pedigree and could be one to watch – and for Channel 4 at least it marks a pleasant change from wall-to-wall Come Dine With Me repeats.

Here’s what’s in store…

“When five strangers from an online comic book forum agree to meet after gaining possession of the original manuscript for the cult graphic novel ‘The Utopia Experiments’, they find themselves pursued by a shadowy organisation known as The Network who are in pursuit of the manuscript – and they are prepared to kill to track it down. While three of the forum members – Ian, Becky and Wilson meet in the pub, another is confronted and killed by two Network henchmen. The only witness to the murder is 11-year-old Grant – the fifth forum member – and when he flees with the manuscript, the henchmen give chase.

Ian and Becky soon find they’ve been set-up for crimes they haven’t committed, while Wilson’s hacking skills attract the attention of Network henchmen Arby and Lee. As the trio’s lives begin to fracture, the world of civil servant Michael Dugdale is also torn apart as he is blackmailed by The Network. Just as things are looking increasingly desperate for Ian, Becky and Wilson, they come face to face with an enigmatic stranger who claims to offer them a way out…”

And here’s the trailer…

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