ITV commissions compelling crime thriller, Six Four, starring Kevin McKidd and Vinette Robinson

ITV commissions compelling crime thriller, Six Four, starring Kevin McKidd and Vinette Robinson, written by Gregory Burke, and produced by House Productions

Six Four will premiere on ITV’s brand new, free streaming service ITVX in 2023, before transferring to a linear transmission

ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill has commissioned four-part event drama, Six Four, created by BAFTA Scotland Award-winning screenwriter, Gregory Burke, and starring Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy, Trainspotting) and Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point, Sherlock, The A-Word), and produced by House Productions.  

The drama will premiere on ITV’s brand new, free streaming service ITVX in 2023, before transferring to linear transmission months later. 

Inspired by the best-selling novel Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama, the drama is set primarily in Glasgow, and is a dark and compelling story of kidnap, corruption, betrayal and an uncompromising search for the truth, when Chris and Michelle O’Neill’s teenage daughter goes missing.

Serving police detective, Chris, played by Kevin McKidd, is provided with a startling revelation about an infamous, unsolved case that once divided the police when a local girl called Julie Mackie disappeared. Now, reeling from the news that his own daughter has gone missing, Chris is approached by a journalist who tells him that fatal mistakes were covered-up in Julie’s disappearance. Revisiting the case, Chris uncovers a series of undeniable errors, corruption and unbridled ambition. 

As Chris fights to make sense of what he’s discovered, his wife Michelle, played by Vinette Robinson, takes matters into her own hands in search of their daughter. Using skills she learned as a former undercover officer, Michelle takes ever-increasing risks as she follows a trail of clues into the criminal underworld she previously escaped from, where vice and extortion had the power to reach to the top of the political establishment.

While Chris and Michelle do everything they can to get to the truth, the daughter of the Justice Minister is suddenly kidnapped, just as the minister is on the cusp of achieving a political election victory. The kidnap has unnerving similarities to the Mackie case. Is the past repeating itself, or is the explosive truth of what really happened to Julie Mackie about to be revealed?

The cast of Six Four also includes Richard Coyle (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), James Cosmo (The Bay), Alex Ferns (The Irregulars), Iona Anderson (The Long Call), Andrew Whipp and Nalini Chetty.

Commented Kevin McKidd: 

“I never take for granted the privilege of being an actor and the chance to become characters like Chris O'Neill, a hard-working serving police officer, whose teenage daughter has gone missing in Six Four. Greg Burke's scripts are real page-turners, as he keeps you guessing with every plot twist and turn. I'm delighted to be returning to my native Scotland and to be partnering Vinette Robinson as my on-screen wife, Michelle, and to be working with House Productions and ITV on what promises to be a compelling thriller.”

Commented Polly Hill: 

“Six Four excitingly brings Kevin McKidd back to Scotland to lead this wonderful cast.  Greg Burke’s scripts are brilliant – a compelling police investigation and the heart-breaking personal story of a runaway child. I’m delighted that ITVX and ITV is the home for this drama and to be working with Greg, Tessa and Juliette to bring this to screen.”

Gregory Burke is an acclaimed writer in film and theatre, whose credits include Entebbe starring Rosamund Pike and Daniel Brühl, Olivier Award-winning play, Black Watch, and BAFTA nominated film ’71, for which he won the BAFTA Scotland Best Writer Award in 2014. Burke is the creator and lead writer on Six Four, working with Clare McQuillan who will also write on the series. 

Gregory Burke commented: 

“I'm so excited to bring Six Four to the screen with the wonderful combination of House Productions, ITV and BBC Studios. At its heart, Six Four is a human story about two people under incredible amounts of pressure, who both choose to try and address their pasts. It is a story about how chance can define a lifetime, exploring the corruption that runs through institutions, and examining the secrets and monsters that lurk in every family.”

Of the project, acclaimed novelist, Hideo Yokoyama, said: 

“I’m surprised and delighted in equal measure when people have found something universal in my work. That little boy who was so obsessed with the stories of Sherlock Holmes would be excited to hear about this. I offer my heart-felt gratitude to everyone connected with the production who decided to make this series and I can’t wait to see it.”

Executive Producers for House Productions, Juliette Howell and Tessa Ross, added: 

“Hideo Yokoyama’s Six Four was a publishing phenomenon when it came out and Greg has brilliantly captured the essence of the thrilling rollercoaster of a story that so compelled all those readers of the original novel. In relocating the action to Glasgow, Greg has brought an intricate knowledge and real sense of place of that beautiful city, immersing us in a visceral and gut-wrenching journey, experiencing everything right alongside Chris and Michelle as they desperately try to find their missing daughter.”  

The director on Six Four is Ben A. Williams (Sherwood, Baghdad Central) and the producer is Clare Kerr (Karen Pirie, The Nest). Gregory Burke will be an Executive Producer and Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross and Molly Bolt are Executive Producers for House Productions. Polly Hill will oversee commission and production of the drama from ITV’s perspective. BBC Studios, who own House Productions, will distribute the series internationally.

Filming has commenced on location in Scotland.  

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Notes to editors

About House Productions: 
Launched in 2016 by Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell, House Productions brings the best of film and television together to create quality storytelling, be it on the big or small screen. In December 2021, BBC Studios acquired the company which now sits within the global content company’s portfolio of indies. 
House Productions’ recent TV productions include the hugely critically acclaimed LIFE AFTER LIFE; an adaptation of the Kate Atkinson bestseller from Bash Doran, directed by John Crowley and starring Thomasin MacKenzie for BBC One; BREXIT - THE UNCIVIL WAR, a single film by acclaimed playwright James Graham, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear and TRIGONOMETRY, from Duncan Macmillan and Effie Woods which first aired on BBC TWO and iPlayer in spring 2020, having sold across the world and included in the launch slate of HBO Max in the US. 
The company has recently completed production on SHERWOOD; a crime drama written by James Graham soon to be on BBC One starring David Morrissey and Lesley Manville. They are also currently in production in Italy on THE GOOD MOTHERS, a Star Original for Disney+; a drama that offers a unique twist on the crime genre with the mafia seen entirely from the women’s perspectives, and in latter stages of development for THE SEVEN DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE for Netflix; an adaptation of Stuart Turton’s COSTA Award-winning, bestselling novel. On the film side, psychological thriller, THE WONDER, has finished filming and is a co-production with Element Pictures for Netflix. Currently in production is STARVE ACRE, a stylistic modern horror feature, based on the novel by Andrew Michael Hurley, from BAFTA Award nominated writer and director Daniel Kokotajlo, starring Matt and Morfydd Clark.
About BBC Studios

BBC Studios, a global content company with bold British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group, supporting the licence fee and enhancing programmes for UK audiences. Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, its activities span content financing, development, production, sales, branded services, and ancillaries across both its own productions, and programmes and formats made by high-quality UK independents. Award-winning British programmes made by the business are internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear and Doctor Who. BBC.com, BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, provides up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features to more than 139 million unique browsers each month. BBC Studios has offices in over 20 markets globally, including ten production bases in the UK and production bases or partnerships in a further seven countries around the world. The company, which ordinarily makes around 2000 hours of content a year for both the BBC and third parties including Apple, Netflix and Migu, is a champion for British creativity around the world.  It is also a committed partner for the UK’s independent sector through a mix of equity partnerships, content investment and international distribution for programme titles.