The finale of Dark Money will air on BBC One on Tuesday night, and viewers have been gripped by the intense story of the dark side of Hollywood. Ahead of the last episode in the series, find out everything you need to know about the show, and why you should be catching up with it on BBC iPlayer ASAP!
What is Dark Money about?
Dark Money follows a couple devastated when their 13-year-old son Isaac, who has landed a role in a blockbuster film in Hollywood, returns and tells them that he was sexually abused by the film's producer. Upon consulting a lawyer, they are faced a difficult choice of pursuing a difficult-to-win court case against the perpetrator, or accepting a £3million pay out which will also buy their silence. Their decision rocks their family, and the series looks at the aftermath of the horrific incident.
Who is in the cast of Dark Money?
Jill Halfpenny plays Isaac's mum, Sam, and opened up about the emotional role. She told the Mirror: "At the end of a day like that, you're so exhausted from crying that your face is like a dried-up leaf. You just want to literally flop on the bed or the sofa. Your body doesn't know that what it went through isn't real, so your body has felt the trauma. So even though you're telling your brain, 'I'm acting', your body still feels like it's been through something traumatic."
Babou Ceesay plays Manny, Isaac's father. The star is best known for his roles in Half of a Yellow Sun and Rogue One, and has been nominated for the BAFTA for Best Actor. Max Fincham plays Isaac, and has been highly praised for his acting skills in the challenging role. One person wrote: "I have no idea how they prepare a young actor to play such a role. For that young actor (Max Fincham) to then go on and deliver such a believable heart wrenching performance is extraordinary. Take a bow young man." The actor is also known for his role as a young Tim in Detective Pikachu.
Who wrote Dark Money?
Levi David Addai penned the topical drama, and opened up about how he was inspired to write the series, telling the BBC: "In celebrity culture there are a lot of stories of pay-offs, where parents have come out and said something’s happened to my child - and then all of a sudden the story disappears because of an out-of-court settlement. And I think, an out-of-court settlement? What’s happened there? And we never hear about the family or the case again."
"Being a writer, I thought, if this was true, what next for the family? Because if this is true that they received money and didn’t pursue charges anymore, where are they now? What’s going on now in the dynamics of that family, especially if it was a huge pay-off where the parents don’t have to work anymore and can live off the money they’ve been given."
