The Beast Must Die (TV series)

The Beast Must Die is a British thriller television series based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Blake, adapted for television by Gaby Chiappe. It centres on a mother's grief for her son who was killed in a car accident. She takes matters into her own hands by posing as a novelist to ingratiate herself into the family of the man whom she believes to be responsible for her son's death.^[1][2][3][4]

The Beast Must Die
Genre	Drama Thriller
Based on	The Beast Must Die by Nicholas Blake
Developed by	Gaby Chiappe
Written by	Gaby Chiappe
Directed by	Dome Karukoski
Starring	Cush Jumbo Jared Harris Billy Howle
Composer	Matthew Herbert
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	Marina Brackenbury Emma Broughton Gaby Chiappe Arnon Milchan Yariv Milchan Nathaniel Parker Ed Rubin Michael Schaefer David W. Zucker
Producers	Sarada McDermott Joanie Blaikie
Cinematography	Joel Devlin
Editors	Mike Jones Dan Roberts
Running time	56–63 minutes
Production companies	New Regency Television International Scott Free Productions
Original release
Network	BritBox
Release	May 27 (2021-05-27) – June 17, 2021 (2021-06-17)

The series premiered in the United Kingdom on BritBox on 27 May, 2021, and ran for one series of 5 episodes until 17 June, 2021. A second series was in development, titled A Sword In My Bones.^[5] ITVX, which absorbed Britbox, announced it would not proceed.^[6]

Premise

Following the death of her son in a hit and run, all Frances Cairnes wants is to hunt down and kill the person she believes is responsible. When she believes she has tracked him down, she tricks her way into his house and plots his murder from within. Meantime, the new police inspector in the area has found out that his predecessor didn't do a thorough job with the original investigation, and is seeking answers himself.

Cast and characters

• Cush Jumbo as Frances Cairnes
• Billy Howle as Nigel Strangeways
• Nathaniel Parker as Blount
• Maeve Dermody as Violet
• Douggie McMeekin as Vincent O'Brien
• Mia Tomlinson as Lena
• Geraldine James as Joy
• Jared Harris as George Rattery
• Barney Sayburn as Phil Rattery
• William Llande as Martie Cairnes

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Episode 1"	Dome Karukoski	Gaby Chiappe	May 27, 2021 (2021-05-27)
2	"Episode 2"	Dome Karukoski	Gaby Chiappe	May 27, 2021 (2021-05-27)
3	"Episode 3"	Dome Karukoski	Gaby Chiappe	June 3, 2021 (2021-06-03)
4	"Episode 4"	Dome Karukoski	Gaby Chiappe	June 10, 2021 (2021-06-10)
5	"Episode 5"	Dome Karukoski	Gaby Chiappe	June 17, 2021 (2021-06-17)

Production

The series was filmed on the Isle of Wight. Many of the scenes were filmed in the West Isle of Wight AONB, including Compton Farm, where adjacent scenes of the ‘island’ and the UK mainland were filmed at opposite ends of the same farm complex.

Release

The miniseries premiered on May 27, 2021, on BritBox. It aired on AMC+ on July 5, 2021, and on AMC on July 12, 2021.

Critical response

The Beast Must Die has received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 85% based on 20 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.48/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Cush Jumbo and Jared Harris make for thrilling combatants in The Beast Must Die, a coiled potboiler that excels with deft performances and rich atmosphere."^[7] On Metacritic, it has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "Generally favorable".^[8]