Luke Evans leads 'gripping' new drama filmed in Wales

Pontypool-born actor Luke Evans will play a leading role in the upcoming ITV drama

A new TV drama starring Pontypool-born actor Luke Evans and Bafta award-winning actress Joanna Scanlan has started filming in Wales.

The Party, based on a novel by Elizabeth Day, is a five-part series focusing on a journalist called Martin Gilmour, played by Evans, shaped by his lifelong friendship with wealthy politician Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Tom Cullen.

The drama will move between Ben's lavish birthday party and a police investigation that follows, with flashbacks to the pair's party days.

Evans said the drama is a "gripping exploration of loyalty, class, and the truths we hide, and I can't wait for audiences to experience it".

"From the moment I read Elizabeth Day's novel, I knew it had the makings of something truly special for television," he added.

"To now be bringing The Party to life – both as an actor and as an executive producer through Stoic Productions – is incredibly rewarding."

The date the series, which will be broadcast on ITV1 and STV, is yet to be revealed.

The plot will see Martin win a scholarship to an elite boarding school, where he meets Ben, after being raised alone by his working class mother, Sylvia, who is played by Riot Women star Joanna Scanlan.

Tom Cullen will play wealthy politician Ben Fitzmaurice

Day, whose novel of the same name was published in 2017, acts as an executive producer on the series.

She said "I am so thrilled to see this wonderful adaptation of my novel, The Party, come to our screens.

"It's unbelievably exciting to witness my characters and the imagined world they inhabit evolving into this compelling, new creative iteration."