The Party, a gripping five-part drama filmed in Wales, starts tonight on ITV, with Luke Evans leading the cast as Martin Gilmour, a working-class journalist who wins a scholarship to an elite boarding school.
Martin forms an intense, lifelong bond with Ben Fitzmaurice (Tom Cullen), a wealthy and charismatic aspiring Conservative politician. Three decades later, Martin is invited to Ben's lavish 40th birthday gala at the Fitzmaurice family country estate. Just as the party begins, news of the Conservative party leader's resignation breaks, and Ben contemplates launching a leadership bid.
A concerned Martin fears the intense media spotlight will dredge up a dark, shared secret from their past—including a tragic university-era accident where Martin took the blame for Ben.
Multiple timelines and a stellar cast
The drama, which was filmed in part of Wales, cuts across multiple timelines from the chaotic events of the birthday night, opening with Martin covered in blood, a tense police investigation in its aftermath and flashbacks to their school, university, and London party days.
The stellar supporting cast includes Joanna Scanlan, Lydia Leonard, and Lindsay Duncan as well as an appearance from author Elizabeth Day herself who released the best-selling psychological thriller in 2017.
Author Elizabeth Day on her cameo
Speaking about her cameo, Elizabeth explained: "It was one of the best moments of my life, and one of the most surreal. It's really difficult to put into words. On set, I was taken to my own trailer. As I walked past other trailers, I saw they had named them Martin, Ben, Serena - oh ,my gosh!"
"Then as I was getting ready, who should come out of set and towards me, but Luke Evans dressed as Martin. So that was just like, 'Oh my God! Double take. There is Martin!'. Then I walked onto the set and they had done such an incredible job of visualising this party."
"Then to learn that they'd come across the book through Hollywood superstar Luke Evans was amazing. I heard he had read The Party during the pandemic. He had been drawn to the role of Martin because he felt that it spoke to him. It reminded him of his own experiences of childhood."
"He grew up a Jehovah's Witness and always felt like an outsider. He related to Martin on that front, and so it felt almost too good to be true."
From table read to screen
"And now that it's actually happening, it's incredible! The first time I allowed myself to believe it was when we had the table read."
"All of the cast were sitting around this table, and they had allocated a place for me, which I hadn't expected. I was so honoured. I had a place name saying, 'Elizabeth Day, author.'"
"I had the scripts there, and I was witnessing all these terrific actors giving voice to these characters who had been figments of my imagination for so long."
"That's when I finally allowed myself to think, 'Oh, I think this is actually happening now'."
The Party airs Sunday, October 11 at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
