Our House is ITV's latest edge-of-your-seat four-part series starring Martin Compston and Tuppence Middleton.
Described as a hybrid of thriller and emotional drama, Downton Abbey star Tuppence and Line of Duty actor Martin play estranged husband and wife, Fiona and Bram Lawson – and at the centre of it all is a beautiful house, filmed both on location in South London (reportedly in Dulwich), and in the studio where a replica was built.
• What is Our House about?
Fi arrives home one day to find removal men on her doorstep and strangers moving into her house and her family's possessions and furniture nowhere to be seen. Fi believes there's been a huge mistake and insists her home isn't for sale. With events spiralling beyond her control, her panic rises as she can't reach her estranged husband, Bram.
The series takes place over 12 hours, starting with Fi's discovery of the strangers in her house. 'It's a tightly plotted, roller coaster ride, full of unexpected twists and turns, that becomes incrementally darker as the series unfolds,' says Writer and Executive Producer, Simon Ashdown.
Viewers follow Fi as she tries to disentangle what's happened, save her house, find her missing husband and children, and ultimately, fight for her very survival.
Intertwining the present day with flashback scenes of Fi and Bram's life together, Our House gradually unravels unexpected secrets and shocking revelations, all of which culminates in a nail-biting finale.
• Is Our House a book adaptation?
Yes, Our House is adapted from the international best-selling novel written by Louise Candlish. The novel became a Sunday Times best seller and won Book of the Year – Crime and Thriller, at the British Book Awards in 2019.
• Where is Our House filmed?
It took location scouts, the producer, director, designer, and an army of people to scour the streets of London (North, South, West and East) to find the perfect house – a property that's both homely yet quirky, and aspirational but believable as a family home.
Reportedly settling for a house in Dulwich overlooking Peckham Rye, producer Tom Mullens said: 'We spent a long time searching for the right house. Some houses lacked character or were too ostentatious. You have to feel these are real people, who got lucky 15 years ago. They bought their house when it was vaguely affordable, and now it's worth £2 million.'
The home is based on a house in a street near to where Louise lives in South London and 'her observations of the property obsessed mothers, milling outside school gates, discussing soft furnishings and the latest price rises on Zoopla', describes Simon.
An exact replica of the house was built in the studio, with every detail and interior (objects, pictures and furniture) acting as a window into Fi's soul, and most of the downstairs interior is a set too. And although the house is aspirational, it still has its feet on the ground – for production it was essential that the other locations fit in with that world, with scenes set in places many of us are familiar with, such as the local park, playground, cafes and at work.
Scenes were also filmed at Leysdown-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.
• Our House main cast and characters
Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey) as Fiona Lawson, married mother of two young boys.
Martin Compston (Line of Duty, The Nest) as Bram Lawson, Fi's husband, father of two.
Rupert Penry-Jones (The Drowning, Whitechapel, Spooks) as Toby, a charismatic stranger who starts dating Fi after she separates from Bram.
Weruche Opia (I May Destroy You) as Merle, Fi's best friend and neighbour.
Buket Komur (Honour) as the mysterious and alluring Wendy.
• Fi's house is another major character in this drama...
'Reading Louise's novel, I was immediately gripped by this compelling premise. The idea that the thing we all take for granted, if we're lucky enough to have it, a home, a pot of gold that makes up most of our wealth, could suddenly one day just be snatched away, seemed to tap into the zeitgeist, a generation buoyed up by the property boom, buying into the delusion of wealth and security, a bubble that can be popped at any moment,' says Simon. 'Their world is seductive, the house like a third character in this marriage, uniting them but also pulling them apart, alluring, beautiful, seductive.'
In Our House, as Fi and Bram separate, Fi can't bring herself to be parted from her home and so the couple try the latest fad in dual parenting, bird's nesting. This involves Bram living in a flat and Fi staying in the house with the boys – and the couple swapping places on the weekends.
'Supposedly for the benefit of the children, it also allows them to hold on to their beloved house, now worth a huge sum. What seems to be a bit of luck, making hundreds of thousands out of the property boom, also proves to be a curse, insidiously influencing the couple's decisions,' adds Simon.
Just like any houseproud individual, Fi has poured her soul into decorating the house just right, reflecting her sense of self and desire to create a perfect world for her and her family. But as events unravel, it soon emerges that the house is not only at the centre of the drama but also casts a spell. So while Our House deals with a subject matter that will be very familiar to people – a couple going through divorce – there's another significant message.
Simon summarises: 'It's a modern fable about property ownership that will have the audience not only gripped but moved and perhaps make those that are lucky enough to have made a pile from simply buying property at the right time realise that their elevated sense of self-worth, status and wealth can be very easily swept away. In a society riven by division sitting on a pile of gold can be corrosive as well as a boon. This could happen to anyone.'
• So essentially, Our House taps into the nation's obsession with property…
'There is a really strong subtext about our current obsession with property and how investing too much in bricks and mortar might affect your relationship,' says Executive Producer Belinda Campbell. 'It is a bit of a cautionary tale for our property obsessed time.
'It's a cultural trope – an Englishman’s home is his castle. We take that too seriously. Everybody puts all their energy and money into their houses at the expense of other things in their lives. If Fi has a flaw, it's her obsession with her house at the expense of attending to her relationship with her husband. There is a third person in their marriage, and it's the house.'
• Our House starts 7th March at 9pm on ITV and ITV Hub and continues Tuesday 8th, Wednesday 9th and concludes Thursday 10th March.
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The Living Room Edit
Olivia Heath is the Daily Editor at House Beautiful. Heading up all things digital, Olivia loves nothing more than uncovering tomorrow's biggest design trends and revealing the best tips and tricks to help you decorate your home like an interior designer. Week by week Olivia shares the most stylish high street buys to help you get the look for less (while compiling her very own, and rather lengthy, homeware lust list) and showcases the best makeovers (who doesn't love a before & after?), as well as the hottest and most unique properties on the market.
Having covered interiors and gardens for the past seven years, Olivia’s work has also appeared on Elle Decor US, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, Red, Prima, Elle Japan, Modern Living and Micasa Revista.
Prior to joining House Beautiful, Olivia worked at Reveal magazine, where she reported on celebrity and entertainment news by day, and attended showbiz parties and red carpet events by night! Olivia has an MA in Journalism with an NCTJ qualification, as well as a BA in Journalism and Media & Cultural Studies.
