Jill Halfpenny to star in new Channel 5 thriller

Jill Halfpenny is set to star in new Channel 5 thriller \'The Drowning\'.

The 44-year-old actress will lead the cast in the tense drama, which follows a woman called Jodie who thinks she has caught a glimpse of her missing son eight years after he disappeared.

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday (19.02.20) to express her excitement for the upcoming series, she Jill wrote: "Started filming this on Monday. Working in and around gorgeous Dublin with some gorgeous people . Happy days x (sic)"

Also joining the cast are Jonas Armstrong and Rupert Penry-Jones - who will star as Jodie\'s lawyer brother and the father of the boy in question, respectively -

while newcomer Cody Molko has been confirmed as Daniel, whose sighting sparks the drama.

The show is being produced by Noel Clarke and Jason Maza\'s Unstoppable Film & Television, and has been written by Tim Dynevor - who has previously worked on \'Emmerdale\' - with \'Vera\' director Carolina Giammetta at the helm.

In a joint statement, the producers said: "We are delighted to be working with the hugely talented Jill Halfpenny, Jonas Armstrong and Rupert Penry-Jones on \'The Drowning\', which is being lead by the brilliant director, Carolina Giametta.

"Working with Carolina and our wonderful writer, Tim Dynevor, the creative process has been a joy. We could not be more excited to collaborate with Channel 5 to bring this story to the screen."

Channel 5\'s director of programmes Sebastien Cardwell added: "We are thrilled to be working with the team at Unstoppable on this exciting addition to Channel 5\'s ever growing drama slate. We hope that audiences will be gripped across the series."