Playing Nice Review: James Norton’s new thriller will have you gripped ☆☆☆☆

James Norton is back in a brand new ITV original drama, ‘Playing Nice’.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Cornish countryside, two couples uncover the devastating truth that their toddlers were accidentally switched at birth due to a hospital mix-up. This revelation forces them to confront an agonizing decision: should they keep the children they have raised and loved, or return to their biological child?

Caught in a waking nightmare, Pete (James Norton) and Maddie (Niamh Algar) are thrust into the lives of the other couple, Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay). Initially, it appears that all four have reached a mutual agreement on how to move forward, but soon, hidden agendas begin to surface. Can each couple truly trust the biological parents of their child—or even each other? As Pete and Maddie are pushed to their limits by Miles and Lucy, they realise they will go to any lengths to keep their family intact. There’s clearly more to what happened in that hospital that first appears.

As with many tv dramas, the viewer is asked to suspend belief to a degree. Early on in the opening episode, the two couples sit quaffing bubbly whilst agreeing who is going to keep which child. You can’t help but think ‘there’s no way this wouldn’t be done via the authorities’. Once you park that thought though, this drama is a seriously enjoyable thriller.

We found ourselves on the edge of our seats, shouting at the TV and rooting for the good guys. As the credits rolled on the first episode, we couldn’t start the second one quick enough. And that’s what you want, right?

Snobby critics will say it’s too far from reality, but in the same way we love a Harlan Coben thriller, you’ve just got to get beyond that and enjoy it for what it is.

All of the cast are fantastic. James Norton and Niamh Algar are just brilliant and conveying the emotion whilst James McArdle and Jessica Brown Findlay brilliantly pull of a hateful couple. McArdle in particular shines as Miles, a sociopathic arsehole that you will be desperate to see fall.

The drama unfolds right from the very beginning and doesn’t let up. The backdrop to the story, the Cornwall coast, looks fantastic and adds rich layers to the mood and suspense.

‘Playing Nice’ is exactly the kind of drama you’ll want to sit down and binge in January, and with excellent production and a gripping story it is a cut above the rest.

☆☆☆☆

Where to watch Playing Nice: ITVX.