Angela Black TV drama: cast of new ITV series with Joanne Froggatt, reviews - and how many episodes are there?

ITV has launched a new domestic thriller series Angela Black, starring Downton Abbey alumni Joanne Froggatt as a woman who is left reeling after a private investigator reveals troubling secrets about her abusive husband’s past.

This is everything you need to know.

What is Angela Black about?

The ITV drama follows the story of Angela Black, a woman who, from the outside, appears to have it all - an amazing house, handsome husband Olivier, two lovely sons, and time to volunteer at a dog shelter.

The official synopsis reads: “Beneath this façade of charmed domesticity, Angela is a victim of domestic violence. Olivier is controlling and brutal; but Angela loves him and he’s the father of her children.

“She can’t leave him, even though she has threatened to countless times. So, she covers her bruises with makeup and fabricates lies to explain away her missing teeth.

“Until, one day, Angela is approached by Ed – a Private Investigator - and he smashes her already strained domestic life to pieces. Ed reveals Olivier’s deepest secrets to Angela, and she is faced with horrifying truths about her husband and his betrayals. But can Angela trust Ed?

“With one encounter, Angela’s life switches from school runs and the dog’s home to private detectives and buried secrets.

This is a Hitchcockian thriller that follows one woman as she risks everything she holds dear to fight back against the man who has suppressed and tormented her for most of her adult life.”

Who is in the cast?

Joanne Froggatt leads the show in the titular role of Angela Black, whose life is seemingly perfect on the outside but in reality has a controlling and abusive husband. You’ll likely recognise Froggatt from her roles in Downton Abbey, Liar, Dark Angel and The Harrowing.

Speaking about the role, Froggatt said: “I am honoured to be working with Two Brothers Pictures again and this important and timely story from the brilliant Harry and Jack Williams is like nothing I’ve read before.

“Angela is a complex and intriguing character, and I hope audiences will be immediately drawn into her gripping, and sometimes heart-breaking journey, just as I was.”

Playing Angela’s husband Olivier is Michiel Huisman, who has previously starred in The Flight Attendant, The Haunting of Hill House and Game of Thrones.

“I’m proud to be part of such a thrilling and clever story with so many twists and turns,” Huisman said.

Starring as Ed Harrison, the private investigator who approaches Angela with the dark secrets from her husband’s past, is Samuel Adewunmi, who you might recognise from The Luck, Dixi and The Missing.

Adewunmi describes the character of Ed as one he “always finds [himself] drawn to”.

Rounding out the rest of the cast is:

• Lara Rossi (The Watch, I May Destroy You) as Gwen
• Anil Goutam (Citizen Khan, The Bisexual) as Dr Peters
• Ashley McGuire (It’s a Sin, This Country) as Judy
• Jade Anouka (His Dark Materials, The Drowning) as Dr Cath Bradford 
• Deidre Mullins (The Drowning, Shadow and Bone) as Emma
• Sara Houghton (Holby City, Riviera) as Marissa 
• Daniel Betts (A Confession, Atlantic Crossing) as Mike 

Also appearing in Angela Black are newcomers Clement and Seth Stokes, portraying Sam and Max Meyer, respectively.

What are reviews saying?

Lucy Mangan from The Guardian awarded the show a rating of three out of five stars, stating that the domestic abuse drama “teeters towards the exploitative”.

She says that “it is [Joanne] Froggatt’s performance that stops the story drifting into absurdity or becoming a trivialising, exploitative endeavour”.

Anita Singh from the Telegraph also gave it three out of five stars, saying that it is “the usual ITV drama nonsense, but switch your brain off and it’s a passable way to spend a Sunday evening”.

She wrote: “You need to make peace with the fact that it takes a subject as grim as domestic violence and gives it the schlock-horror treatment.”

Ed Cumming from the Independent gave it an even lower rating of just two out of five stars, calling it a “cliché-ridden drama” that falls short of giving the serious representation that domestic abuse deserves.

“From the clunky script to the tension-by-numbers score, ITV’s new thriller is a baffling let-down,” Cumming wrote.

Flora Carr from Radio Times was altogether more forgiving with a four out of five star rating, calling it a “powerful ITV drama”.

“Take away the car chases and elaborate murder plots, and this would still be an accomplished and powerful drama, and one that will resonate,” Carr wrote.

When is Angela Black on TV - and how many episodes are there?

The first episode of Angela Black aired on Sunday 10 October at 9pm on ITV.

If you missed it, you can catch up on the ITV Hub.

The new ITV drama is a six part series, with the subsequent episodes airing on Sundays at 9pm on ITV.

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