ITV's latest drama 'Out There' sees Martin Clunes like we've never seen him before. Clunes plays Welsh farmer Nathan Williams whose vulnerable (and albeit very naive) son Johnny becomes entrapped in a county lines drug operation. As a single parent, Nathan is committed to keeping Johnny safe, but quickly finds himself in over his head when Johnny kills a drug dealer in an attempt to keep his crush Sadie safe.
In a bid to protect Johnny, Nathan and his estranged brother help to get rid of the body. But when the drug dealer's boss comes looking, it doesn't take him long to find those responsible. With a gun to Johnny's head, Nathan thinks on his feet and offers the drug boss a solution - spare Johnny's life and use his farm as their drug warehouse.
Out There is full of harsh themes, and successfully explores the tough existence and realities of modern day farming. Like many framers up and down the country, Nathan engages in frustrated conversations about diversification, shared boundaries and inconclusive TB tests. The changing economics of rural farming even drives Nathan's neighbouring farmer to take his own life; a story all too common amongst the farming community. Not many dramas of this scale have tackled this as a topic and Out There seems to tackle it well.
Nathan's farming life directly contrasts to that of his sons, who tends to do little else than sit on his computer games all day whilst his father's out working the land. Out There also highlights the many issues surrounding rural county lines towns and villages. Like many children in these areas, Johnny is recruited as a drugs runner, transporting packages to different places and people. Like many rural areas across the UK, people are broke and vulnerable, making it the ideal place to important and distribute drugs.
The characters in Out There are believable and authentic; Clunes captures the role well and he's supported well with an ensemble young cast, including Johnny (played by Louis Ashbourne) and Sadie (played by Carly-Sophia Davies). Whilst Nathan is a great dad, he's also highly flawed. He seems relatively relaxed when it comes to Johnny's wareabouts, taking the typical father approach of 'he'll be back soon.' Nathan's character acts as an all-knowing, all-seeing wise God like figure - controlling the narrative and setting the rules, even when it comes to the drug gang.
Ashbourne plays the character of the irritatingly naive son well, whilst allowing us to feel sorry for him at the same time. Whilst Johnny might be stupid enough to get involved in drug running we can't help but see him as the innocent, vulnerable and hapless teen that he is.
Out There is a moody and meaty examine on the struggles facing many farming and rural communities up and down the country, with an added bit of drama and tension sprinkled on top for good measure. With Series 2 looking very much on the cards, I for one am very excited to see more of Clunes running around the South Walian country side waving a shot gun in the air.
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