Richard Gere stars in this acclaimed thriller as Max, the owner of one of the world’s most influential media empires and he uses his power ruthlessly. His son Caden is editor of Max’s mouthpiece, The National newspaper. But Caden is crumbling under the pressure of his father’s expectation. When Caden’s excess causes a massive stroke, he’s left like a helpless child. For Kathryn – Max’s estranged wife – this is a chance to reconnect with the sensitive boy Max ripped away from her. And as Max and Kathryn fight for the soul of their son, another fight is about to begin, a fight for the heart of the nation.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Episode 1 – Monday, 14 October 2024
US-born Max is at the heart of British politics and power, owner of a media empire that includes newspapers and television stations. His aristocratic ex-wife Kathryn has frozen out of the family and spends her days working at a homeless shelter. Their son, Caden, is at the heart of Max’s operation, editing broadsheet newspaper The National Reporter – but he’s out of his depth and the strain is showing. When Caden suffers a catastrophic breakdown, the fragmented family is pulled back together.
Episode 2 – Tuesday, 15 October 2024
With their son Caden fighting for his life in the hospital, we discover the story of Max and Kathryn’s relationship, and their battles for control over the future of their son. We start to sense that beneath the sheet of respectability there are terrible secrets waiting to be unleashed within Max’s empire, ones that could threaten its very existence. And when Caden wakes from his coma Kathryn finds her son has suffered a serious brain trauma. He is a baby again. But what kind of man is he about to grow into?
Episode 3 – Wednesday, 16 October 2024
Caden has been moved into a cutting-edge military rehabilitation facility. Kathryn dedicates herself full time to her son’s rehabilitation, making up for the years she missed when Caden was a child. As Caden painstakingly relearns basic skills, growing up for a second time, he falls for a brilliant and damaged military intelligence agent, Orla. Meanwhile, Max’s enemies are beginning to circle, sensing that his British media empire may be weakening. It is time for a decision on Caden’s future
Episode 4 – Monday, 21 October 2024
With no prospect of returning to the role he had spent his life being groomed for, Caden has nothing to live for. He spirals downwards until his equally unhinged companion Orla suggests a suicide pact. Kathryn reconnects with a volatile man, Scott, with whom she had established an intense connection at the homeless shelter. Max weighs the political candidates as the general election looms – but has his judgement been impaired by his son’s illness? When Kathryn learns some of Max’s dark secrets, she too has a fateful decision to make.
Episode 5 – Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Twenty years of family hurt, and betrayal comes to a head as the mother, the father and the son gather at a remote rural house near Caden’s rehab facility. Kathryn discovers the truth of the upbringing that Max inflicted on Caden – the creation of a man taught to feel nothing. She realizes how profoundly she failed her son by losing him to Max. This is a chance to fight the battle she lost during Caden’s childhood – emotion against machismo, idealism versus pragmatism. Will the family fight take the world stage?
Episode 6 – Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Having chosen their sides, everyone digs themselves in for the impending war. Caden finds Orla to warn her that she may be caught in the crossfire – her secrets deployed as ammunition against Caden. Kathryn and Caden meet with journalists to get Caden’s story on record – an expose of the practices at Max’s newspapers. Max conducts a root-and-branch reform of his newspapers, but how will he deal with the threat posed by Kathryn and Caden?
Episode 7 – Monday, 28 October 2024
The prime minister’s son has been murdered and Max’s newspapers are being blamed. A riotous atmosphere develops across the nation and a variety of factions emerge, some more sinister than others. At Caden’s Rehabilitation Centre, Orla has been transferred to a secure unit following a second suicide attempt. And Kathryn must decide whether she is willing to sacrifice her son for the sake of destroying Max’s empire.
Episode 8 – Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Caden leaves the rehabilitation centre, returning to London and an uncertain future. Kathryn ponders the offer that Max has made to her. How will Caden react to the news? Can she ever trust Max to keep his word? And where will the nation find itself after the most divisive of election campaigns?
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