David Tennant's new four-part thriller Deadwater Fell will not follow conventional tropes of the true crime genre, according to series writer and creator Daisy Coulam.
Explaining why she was inspired to write the programme, Daisy revealed that while she was heavily inspired by true crime documentaries and what's come before, she wanted to ensure that they were doing something "original" too.
"I think firstly it was a love of true crime. I found that I was drawn to true crime documentaries and stories, but I found as I watched them you get more of a sense of the perpetrators than the victims," Daisy explained.
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"I wanted to understand why some of these crimes happen and to address the importance of the victim as the real person they are.
"We spoke to a criminal psychologist, we spoke to a police adviser and other professionals. Though we wanted the series to be realistic, it is a fictional drama and we wanted to do something that was original and touched on the themes you see in a slightly different way.
"We weren't just following tropes, I suppose. We wanted to be thought provoking and to shine a new light on some of the issues that viewers see throughout the series."
Related: David Tennant's newborn baby watches Doctor Who in adorable picture
Deadwater Fell follows two families in the aftermath of a horrific crime, as a seemingly perfect and happy family is murdered by someone they know and trust, sending shockwaves through the small Scottish community of Kirkdarroch that they call home.
David Tennant stars as local GP Tom Kendrick, who's left as the sole survivor of a fire that kills his wife Kate and their three little girls, and the former Doctor Who star also teased that the series will surprise viewers.
"The story you think you're being told at the end of episode one is not the story that you realise you're being told in episode two, which again is not the story you thought you were in the midst of when you get to episode three," he said.
"Whatever you think the story is, it will confound you, compel you and surprise you. As we unpeel the layers of what's gone on we learn things we don't expect about those families.
"It's about what happens behind closed doors, how we look at people's lives and think they're perfect when they're anything but and the fact we never really know our friends or the dangers behind closed doors."
Deadwater Fell begins airing on Friday, January 10 at 9pm on Channel 4.
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Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
