Under Salt Marsh: On the red carpet with the cast and creatives at the London premiere

Filmmaker Claire Oakley brings to the screen her emotionally layered crime drama, Under Salt Marsh, set in the fictional close-knit town of Morfa Halen, North Wales. The story tells of tragic loss and murder, alongside the impending crisis of climate change that weaves its way through the narrative.

After the disappearance of her niece, Nessa, three years ago, Jackie Ellis (Kelly Reilly) is forced to step away from her career as a detective and head into the classroom where she takes up her new post as a school teacher. When one of her pupils, Cefin, is found drowned and possibly murdered out in the marshes, her former co-worker, Detective Eric Bull (Rafe Spall), is put on the case. With a storm threatening to wash away vital evidence and hostility building within the small community, there is an urgency to bring justice and a possible link between the two cases.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of attending the special screening at BAFTA, where we spoke to Reilly about what drew her to the script and how different the challenges were from her recent lead role in Yellowstone.

Spall spoke to us about coming on board, the brilliant and original writing from Oakley and the gripping themes that thread through the six-part series.

We heard from Harry Lawtey about the crime genre and how original this script was. He also revealed what appealed to him about taking on the role of Dylan Rees and working with such a brilliant ensemble cast.

Kimberley Nixon, who plays the part of the grieving mother, spoke about how hard some of those scenes were to film, how she drew on her own experiences as a new mother, and what an amazing experience it was on set with the other cast members.

Dinita Gohil, who plays headteacher, Nisha Jones, spoke about the intrigue and mystery behind the story arcs, and the incredible location where they filmed it all.

We chatted to Mark Stanley about the weighty themes within the storylines, the poignant scenes where tragedy hits the community and the lengths people are going to in smaller, remote communities to preserve their way of life.

Jonathan Pryce chatted to us about the unique feel of the script and the patriotic role of Solomon Bevan that he embodied for the series. He also spoke about heading back to North Wales where some of his family still live.

Screenwriter Claire Oakley talked to us about where the idea for the story first started, the importance of the themes of climate change and the way in which nature becomes its own character. She talked about the casting process and how she felt Reilly beautifully lifted the words off the page in her role, as well as the improvisation undertaken in some of the scenes that then added emotional depth to the storylines.

Naomi Yang also stopped to speak about her character, the amazing world Oakley created and being on set in such a beautiful and remote location, with nature playing a huge part in the storylines.