The Ice Cream Girls

[tammyy2j]

ITV has ordered a new drama based on novel The Ice Cream Girls.

Dorothy Koomson's 2010 work will be adapted by Case Sensitive writer Kate Brooke.

Jodhi May (Strike Back) and Lorraine Burroughs (Lip Service) will play the lead roles in ITV1's version, which enters production in Dublin at the end of August.

The Ice Cream Girls tells the story of two women who were accused of murdering their schoolteacher as teenagers. Seventeen years later, both Serena Gorringe (Burroughs) and Poppy Carlisle (May) must confront their dark, shared history.

Set in a seaside town, the three-part thriller will also star Martin Compston (Line of Duty) and Dona Croll (Doctors).

Lucy Dyke of producer Left Bank Pictures said: "We are very excited to be in production on Kate Brooke's captivating scripts, based on Dorothy Koomson's bestselling novel.

"We have a stellar cast in place, led by two strong women, and look forward to bringing this powerful emotional thriller to the screen for ITV1."

Dan Zeff (Doctor Who, Case Histories) will direct The Ice Cream Girls for ITV1.

[crystalsea]

Ohh interesting I read the book last year, will be good to see this, particularly if they do it well.

[tammyy2j]

Starts Friday 19th of April 2013 at 9pm on ITV

[Perdita]

19th April

Episode one:

In 1995 Serena Gorringe and Poppy Carlisle were accused of killing teacher Marcus Halnsley. Today Serena is forced to confront the memories she has long since buried, as Poppy is released from a seventeen-year prison sentence for the crime she still insists she didn’t commit.

***

Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were briefly friends in the summer of 1995. But one night that summer, a horrific tragedy would strike and change their lives forever.

Today Serena returns to her hometown for the first time in seventeen years, stirring up memories of the secret she has concealed from her husband and daughter. Serena is haunted by the memory of a teenage love-affair with her teacher, Mr. Halnsley – an affair that ended with his brutal murder.

Poppy returns to the same hometown after seventeen years in prison. Poppy was found guilty of murder - a crime she still insists she did not commit. And now she’s out, she knows the only way to get her life back is to find Serena and force her to admit the truth about what happened that night.


Series overview:

International best selling novel The Ice Cream Girls has been adapted for ITV by Left Bank Pictures.

Lorraine Burroughs (DCI Banks, Lip Service, Fast Girls) and Jodhi May (The Scapegoat, The Jury, Strike Back) play the lead roles of Serena Gorringe and Poppy Carlisle.

The story follows two vulnerable teenage girls who, in the summer of 1995, are accused of murdering their schoolteacher. For seventeen years, the two girls go their separate ways, Poppy having been charged with the murder. Now in 2013, they are forced to confront each other and their dark, shared history.

While the drama plays out in the present, the events of that fateful summer unfold in flashback sequences. Had it not been for Serena’s teacher, Marcus (Martin Compston), these two girls from very different backgrounds might never have met.

As a lawyer’s daughter, Serena appears to be from the right side of the tracks; pretty and popular with a bright future. Poppy, on the other hand, has never had the opportunities Serena takes for granted and struggles through life with a stepfather who doesn’t want her around.

Fast-forward to modern day. Happily married mother Serena is now back in the same seaside town for the first time as she cares for her dying mother Rachel (Donna Kroll).

Poppy is living in quite different circumstances. Having served seventeen years for a crime she still insists she didn’t commit, she has only one thing on her mind… the truth.

And if she didn’t kill Marcus, then who did?

[Perdita]

26th April

Episode two:

With Poppy out and on the hunt for revenge, Serena struggles to block out the disturbing memories from her past. She turns to her mother for support but when Rachel’s health takes a sudden turn for the worse, Serena realises that this is a burden she must face alone. Serena resolves to report Poppy to the probation services, but as she remembers the dark side of Marcus, she is reminded of the support offered by her only friend at the time: Poppy.

Excluded and alone, Poppy remains determined to extract the truth from Serena. When lifeguard Al finally persuades Poppy to go for coffee, she relents and begins to confide in him. But is Al as trustworthy as he appears?

[Perdita]

3rd May


Coming face to face with Serena for the first time in seventeen years, Poppy learns that her burgeoning romance with Al is to be shortlived, for he is a journalist. When Poppy is then arrested for approaching Serena, she hits an all time low. Back inside a cell, Poppy finds herself alone and helpless.

Serena’s life also takes an unexpected turn for the worse when her identity as the second Ice Cream girl is exposed to Evan and Vee. Devastated by his wife’s betrayal, Evan leaves taking Vee with him. With nothing left to lose, Serena decides it is time to confront the past once and for all as she visits Poppy in detention. Both Serena and Poppy deny murdering Marcus and as they piece together their memories of the fateful night they both finally believe the other is telling the truth...

It is then up to Serena to investigate who really did kill Marcus but as she unpicks the past, she uncovers a secret that will turn her world upside down.

In the final denouement, Serena must make the ultimate sacrifice if she is to serve justice, free Poppy and reclaim her family.