Obsession (2023 TV series)

Obsession is a British erotic thriller television miniseries co-written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Benji Walters, based on the novel Damage (1991) by Josephine Hart. Starring Charlie Murphy, Richard Armitage, Indira Varma and Sonera Angel, the series was released on Netflix on 13 April 2023.

Obsession
Genre	Erotic thriller
Based on	Damage by Josephine Hart
Screenplay by	Morgan Lloyd Malcolm Benji Walters
Directed by	Glenn Leyburn Lisa Barros D'Sa
Starring	Richard Armitage Charlie Murphy Indira Varma Sonera Angel
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	4
Production
Executive producers	Matthew Read Frith Triplady Alison Jackson
Producer	Gina Carter
Running time	33–43 minutes
Production companies	Gaumont UK Moonage Productions
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	13 April 2023 (2023-04-13)

Synopsis

William is a surgeon who begins an affair with his son Jay's fiancée Anna. William soon becomes obsessed with Anna, which threatens his career and life.^[1]

Cast

• Charlie Murphy as Anna Barton
• Richard Armitage as William Farrow
• Indira Varma as Ingrid Farrow
• Rish Shah as Jay Farrow
• Pippa Bennett-Warner as Peggy Graham
• Sonera Angel as Sally Farrow
• Anil Goutam as Edward
• Marion Bailey as Elizabeth Barton

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [2]
1	"Episode 1"	Glenn Leyburn & Lisa Barros D'Sa	Morgan Lloyd Malcolm	April 13, 2023 (2023-04-13)
2	"Episode 2"	Glenn Leyburn & Lisa Barros D'Sa	Morgan Lloyd Malcolm & Benji Walters	April 13, 2023 (2023-04-13)
3	"Episode 3"	Glenn Leyburn & Lisa Barros D'Sa	Morgan Lloyd Malcolm & Benji Walters	April 13, 2023 (2023-04-13)
4	"Episode 4"	Glenn Leyburn & Lisa Barros D'Sa	Morgan Lloyd Malcolm & Benji Walters	April 13, 2023 (2023-04-13)

Production

The series is produced by Gaumont and Moonage Productions. Gina Carter is producer with Moonage’s Matthew Read and Frith Triplady, and Gaumont's Alison Jackson as executive producers. Armitage, Varma, Murphy and Shah were cast in spring 2022 when the production had the working title Damage.^[3]

It was co-written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Benji Walters and based on the book Damage by Josephine Hart. The novel was adapted into the 1992 film Damage starring Juliette Binoche, Miranda Richardson and Jeremy Irons. Richardson's performance garnered her the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.^[4] Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D'Sa were directors on the series. Filming locations included a set at Twickenham Film Studios.^[5]

The four-part series has been described as an ‘erotic thriller’.^[6] Discussing the sex scenes within the project Lloyd Malcolm told Zoe Williams of The Guardian that “The book is so particular about the kind of sex they’re having and the way they do it and how that feeds into their relationship.” She added that “it has to be quite a vanilla version of kink, because it’s mainstream TV” but it “was really important to me to not be saying anything like: ‘BDSM sex is bad sex,’”^[7]

Broadcast

The series began streaming on Netflix on Thursday April 13, 2023.^[8][9]

Reception

The series was met with negative reviews from TV critics and audiences.^[10]