Keeping Faith is a triumph for Eve Myles and Acorn TV.
Eve Myles first caught the fancy of U.S. fans in the Doctor Who spin off Torchwood, playing Gwen Cooper, we next saw her as Claire Ripley in Broadchurch and most recently she played the role of the Queen’s dresser, Mrs. Jenkins in the ITV/PBS mega-hit Victoria.
But it is her new character, Faith Howells, in the Acorn TV mystery Keeping Faith, that is her breakout role. It is a triumph and it is a role that will have U.S. fans wanting to see more of both Myles and her new show.
Faith and husband Evan work together at a law practice they started together in a seaside village in Wales. She is the mother of three lovely children and has a beautiful home overlooking the sea.
It would seem that Faith has it all until one day she is drawn into a mystery when her husband disappears. He leaves for work, but never arrives. His sudden absence strikes deep into the heart of this tiny Welsh community and forces Faith to search for clues, she discovers new revelations about Evan’s private life and questions how well she really knows the man she loves.
Keeping Faith, drops Monday May 7th on Acorn TV here in the U.S. with all 8 shows of series one ready to binge. Make no mistake about it this program will capture you from episode one and it is a roller coaster ride you simply won’t want to get off until you have seen all eight episodes.
I spoke to Myles about Keeping Faith for this week’s edition of Stream On and here is a short sample of our conversation.
Jim Williams: What drew you to want to play the role of Faith Howells?
Eve Myles: I was actually offered the role over five years ago and I knew it was gold. I mean it was brilliantly written, Pip Broughton, the director was a dear friend of mine and she wanted me to play the role. So, we started to talk about how we might make the project a reality.
JW: One of the requests was that you learn to speak Welsh?
EW: Yes, I am from a small village in Wales but I didn’t learn the language as a kid. Now, I am 39 with two kids, I am no spring chicken but I wanted to play Faith so I started to learn Welch. I sat at my desk every day after I took my kids to school and went to work to learn the lovely language. I honestly would have learned five languages to play the role of Faith.
JW: Your real husband Bradley Freegard actually plays your TV husband in the show. What is that like?
EW: Well I knew that he had read for another part in the cast and we had not heard anything. Then I had an accident and I was in the hospital when Brad told me he did not get the part he read for. I told him hey that is ok, there will be other shows, and then he told me he got the part of Evan. I called the nurse and asked for morphine. No, seriously we have worked together often on the stage so this is great fun!
OUR ENTIRE INTERVIEW IS THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF STREAM ON.
As you all know I love a good mystery and there is no doubt that Keeping Faith is a real winner. It is well written, well-acted, the Welsh village that serves as a backdrop to the show is stunning and Pip Broughton’s directing brings it all together. Eve Myles and the rest of Team Faith have a Five Star winner on their hands, so Monday make sure to check it out on Acorn TV.
The Acorn TV U.S. exclusive was co-produced by Vox Pictures, S4C (Welsh Version) and BBC One Wales. It was a massive hit as the series broke all the BBC iPlayer, records with over 5 million requests to view the series the biggest number of downloads for non-network show on the BBC.
Also the BBC has said there will be a series two and that is great news. Be sure to let me know what you think about Keeping Faith, on Twitter @JWMediaDC, Tumblr and Facebook.