Scottish Guilt-y pleasure is heading to American screens

Hit BBC Scotland series Guilt is heading to America.

The show, starring Mark Bonnar and Jamie Sives as two brothers caught in a cover-up after accidentally after knocking down and killing an elderly pedestrian during an inebriated drive home from a wedding, is to air as part of the Masterpiece strand on PBS.

Shot in Edinburgh and East Kilbride, Mark, who grew up in both towns, and James, star as Max and Jake in a darkly absorbing tale of rascality and deceit, which garnered rave reviews after it aired in 2019.

Guilt, which was nominated for several Scottish BAFTAs, co-starred Ruth Bradley as Angie, the niece and closest relative of the hit-and-run victim, named Walter. Arriving in Edinburgh from her home in Chicago, Angie meets Max and Jake at Walter’s wake, where they have come to retrieve incriminating evidence. Angie and Jake hit it off, which complicates Max’s plan to escape justice.

The show was critically acclaimed TV critics were hooked during Guilt’s UK run, calling the series ‘entertainingly outlandish’ (The Telegraph); ‘a pin-sharp black comedy’ (Evening Standard); and ‘an utter triumph, a word-of-mouth dazzler. I loved it’ (The Guardian).

Guilt was written and created by Neil Forsyth, with a sequel set to air this autumn.

Speaking to Scottish Field at the time of broadcast, Neil, originally from Dundee, said: ‘The reaction to Guilt so far has been fantastic. I’ve genuinely not seen a bad review, which is quite extraordinary for television!

‘It’s about four years since I first had the idea for what became Guilt. I had wanted to write something about siblings, as it’s a fascinating dramatic relationship. I decided on brothers and wanted to put them in an extreme situation, see how they got out of it, and came up with that opening section where they hit Walter, take him into the house, and try to get away from it.

‘I wrote it out from there, which was an interesting exercise, to just keep writing it and see what happened, and bringing in rich characters, with a thematic link of guilt throughout it.’

Mark added: ‘I really loved doing this. Working with Neil Forsyth was fantastic, as he’s such a good writer. I really enjoy his work, and these are top-notch scripts.

‘It was a good series to do, and it was a chance to come back home and work in Scotland.’

The show will air on Sundays, September 5 and 12 at 9/8c on PBS.

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