It’s often said that ‘blood is thicker than water’; that the bond of family is the strongest of any we will ever have in our life, somehow built into our DNA from the moment we are born. Whether that holds true or not, when it is affirmed, it is often in the enduring and unshakable love of a parent for their child. So when the very foundations on which your family is built are called into question, what would you do to protect those you love most?
With the beauty of the Cornish coastline as their backdrop, local chef Maddie (Niamh Algar), her journalist partner Pete (James Norton), and their young son Theo, have a family life that is nothing short of idyllic. While Maddie forges ahead in her culinary career, Pete has left the writing world behind in favour of being a stay-at home dad and, for the most part, things are good. That is, until a single phone call leaves them, and the core of who they are as a family, forever changed.
Maddie (Niamh Algar) with Theo. Credit: Joss Barratt
The phone call in question comes from the hospital where Theo was born a couple of years earlier. While Theo’s birth was traumatic, and his prematurity saw him spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit, a follow up call requesting an in-person meeting takes the couple by surprise. Though each have their own theories, nothing could prepare Maddie and Pete for the news that awaits them in the sterile meeting room on the other side of the door: Theo is not their biological son.
Almost immediately, the cavernous room is full of questions. How could this happen? Who made the discovery? And, if Theo is in fact not their biological son, then where is their baby? While answers remain elusive, Maddie and Pete are confronted with the reality of DNA tests, and the prospect that there is now a family of strangers who are irreversibly connected to their own in the most complex and confusing way.
On first impression, Miles (James McArdle) and his wife Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay) are a couple equally in shock; their son David is their pride and joy. When Miles turns up on Maddie and Pete’s doorstep, his intention appears to be for the two families to forge a strong relationship as soon as possible, and figure out what is best for their young boys. Do each couple keep the son they have raised and loved, or do they reclaim their biological child?
Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay). Credit: Joss Barratt
For such a difficult question, the conversation flows more easily than Maddie and Pete could ever have hoped for on their first visit to Miles and Lucy’s impressive home, and everyone is aligned in the belief that keeping Theo and David in their current environments is best. Miles and Lucy are generous in sharing the benefits of their extraordinary wealth with their newfound extended family, and there is hope that they might be able to make something positive out of the mess they have all been faced with.
In any relationship, however, excessiveness can quickly become smothering and in some cases, a warning of something more sinister. Miles’ constant desire to see Theo, and his regular intrusion into Maddie and Pete’s family life, begins to cause friction and Maddie can’t help but wonder if there is an ulterior motive at play. Lucy, too, becomes increasingly distant and is wary of Maddie and Pete spending any time alone with David. Maddie and Pete are left wondering if the agreement the couples reached together is all a front. Could Miles and Lucy be planning a fight that they are entirely unprepared for? And if so, will they be left never knowing their biological child and without the son they love so much?
Pete (James Norton). Credit: ITV
As the series unfolds, it becomes obvious that when your story is unexpectedly rewritten, if you’re not careful, you can be written out of it completely. With Miles in the driver’s seat, and power and money his greatest allies, Maddie and Pete risk losing everything they hold dear. As secrets come to light on both sides, self-preservation leaves all involved prepared to do whatever is takes to get what they want. But, with the entire concept of family on the line, how far will they be prepared to go?
Based on the psychological thriller by British author JP Delaney, Playing Nice is much more than the story of two babies swapped at birth. It is that event that proves to be a catalyst for a heart stopping and unpredictable thriller about the bond, biological or otherwise, between a parent and a child.
All four episodes of Playing Nice will be streaming at SBS On Demand from 29 January. Episodes will also air weekly on SBS from 9.35pm Wednesdays from 29 January.
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Playing Nice
