THE TOWER: GEMMA WHELAN TO STAR IN NEW ITV DRAMA

Gemma Whelan will star in the lead role of Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins in ITV’s three-part series The Tower, adapted by Homeland writer and executive producer Patrick Harbinson.

The Tower is based on Post Mortem, the first in Kate London’s Metropolitan series of novels featuring Sarah Collins and rookie cop Lizzie Griffiths.

Harbinson (Fearless, 24, ER) will executive produce alongside Mammoth Screen’s founder and CEO Damien Timmer (The Serpent, Endeavour) and Karen Thrussell (Poldark, And Then There Were None).

Gemma is most recognised for her role in Game of Thrones and her portrayal of Karen Matthews in The Moorside. Her other recent credits include White House Farm for ITV, Emma, and Killing Eve. Gemma is currently shooting Gentleman Jack. In The Tower’s breath-taking opening sequence, a veteran beat cop and a teenage girl fall to their deaths from a tower block in south-east London. Left alive on the roof are a five-year-old boy and rookie police officer Lizzie Griffiths. Within hours, Lizzie has disappeared, and Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins is charged with leading the investigation.

She not only has to track down Lizzie before she comes to serious harm, but also to uncover the truth behind the grisly deaths. What chain of events took two police officers and two children to the roof of that tower block - why did two of them die? Why did two of them survive?

Filming will commence later this month and further casting details will be announced in due course.