Charlotte from The Traitors isn’t the only one putting on a Welsh accent to ruthless effect this month. Telly stalwart Martin Clunes is delivering his most hypnotic Brecon lilt as a farmer who turns vigilante in ITV’s nerve-fraying new thriller Out There.
Clunes plays Nathan Williams, a widower with a daughter living overseas and a son, Johnny (Louis Ashbourne Serkis), whose guilelessness leads him to fall in with a local wrong’un. Soon a sinister drug-running operation is looming large in the family’s life and Clunes’s farmer is cocking his shotgun to clean house. Well, barn.
What is Out There about?
A no-nonsense but decent man, Nathan is battling financial headwinds to run his farm in a rural corner of Wales. Then the problems mount up even more drastically: his gamer son Johnny falls in with skeezy local drug dealer Rhys (Ludwig’s Gerran Howell) and the impressionable teenager is manipulated into handling drugs on behalf of a county lines gang run by the ruthless Turuk (Silas Carson).
Nathan isn’t taking the decline of his area, his son’s involvement in gangs or the burgeoning trade of county lines gangs – symbolised by the drones that have begun buzzing over his farm – lying down. Like local bobby PC Jane Crowther (Eiry Thomas), herself facing political pressures, he’s on a mission to shut it down. A lot more violently.
‘County lines is a particularly vicious and ruthless wave of drug dealing that uses fear and violence to coerce, often vulnerable, young people into working as runners and dealers,’ says Out There co-director Ed Whitmore. ‘It has become a serious and rapidly increasing problem across the whole of the UK, so it felt like an important and timely story to tell.’
Where was Out There filmed?
Llandovery, Carmarthenshire
The Williams farm is situated close to a small town where much of the show takes place. The town’s actual location was a composite of several areas, but mainly the Brecon Beacons towns of Llangattock and Llyswen.
The larger town that appears in Out There is actually Newport in South Wales. Other Welsh locations used include Port Talbot, Swansea, Cardiff and Bettws, with soundstages at Cardiff’s Dragon Studios used for some interior scenes.
Llangattock, Powys
The beautifully situated Brecon Beacons village of Llangattock is another of the picturesque locations in the ITV thriller. The Breconshire settlement is where the farms are located in the series, and close to the location for the annual Green Man festival.
Darrow Farm, Carmarthenshire
One of the key locations in Out There is the 500-year-old Darrow Farm in Carmarthenshire. ‘It started with them just wanting to use the barn, but after they visited they decided to use more of the property,’ the farmhouse’s owner Gina-Lorraine Murray tells Powys County Times. ‘Before I knew it, Martin Clunes’ wife, Philippa, turned up with a big group of people to look around.’
‘I really enjoyed filming in Wales,’ says Clunes. ‘The locations were beautiful. I like being on a farm and being in the countryside. I was in my element.’
Will there be an Out There season 2?
There’s no official word of a second season yet, but the show ends with plenty left unresolved. Its rating success seems to make that resolution more than likely at a some point in the future.
What are the reviews saying about the show?
Out There has been receiving glowing reviews so far, with critics praising its melding of themes – county lines drugs gangs, gentrification and the struggle to preserve rural life – and Martin Clunes’ performance.
‘This is a taut, tense and gripping thriller, which keeps you on your toes but doesn't prioritise shocks over character,’ says Radio Times.
‘The sight of Martin Clunes waving a shotgun and using a Welsh accent to tell a party full of kids to “fuck off” is an unexpected January treat,’ enthuses The Guardian. ‘Clunes is perfectly cast,’ agrees The Telegraph.
The Independent isn’t so effusive. ‘It will only be residual affection for Clunes and Doc Martin that will keep viewers glued to the screen beyond the show’s rambling first couple of episodes.’
Where can you watch the series?
Episode 3 of Out There airs on ITV1 at 9pm on Sunday, January 26, with episode 4 on at the same time on Monday, Jan 27. The final two episodes land at the same time on February 2 and 3.
If you can’t wait until then, the whole series is available to stream now on ITVX.
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