# Save Me (British TV series)
**Save Me** is a British crime drama television series created, written by, and starring [Lennie James](https://www.edgepedia.org/lennie-james), first broadcast on [Sky Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/sky-atlantic) in the United Kingdom on 28 February 2018[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018). It follows Nelson "Nelly" Rowe, a womanizing south-east Londoner whose estranged 13-year-old daughter Jody goes missing, leaving Nelly the first suspect in her abduction; despite not having spoken to her in ten years, he drops everything to search for her[2](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/save-me/umc.cmc.2txtooe313iqqr6rxsky3jcpt). A second series, titled **Save Me Too**, followed in 2020 and won the BAFTA for Best Series in 2021[3](https://spotlight-cmsmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/media/2784/the-spotlight-prize-programme-2021_final-proof.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Created by | Lennie James, who also writes and stars as Nelly[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018) |
| First broadcast | 28 February 2018, Sky Atlantic (UK); Starz in the US from 6 September 2018[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/) |
| Format | Two series of six episodes each, about 45 minutes per episode[5](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/save-me) |
| Second series | Save Me Too (2020), set eighteen months after the first; aired on Peacock in the US in November 2020[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/) |
| Main cast | Lennie James, Suranne Jones, Stephen Graham[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6538034) |
| Audience record | 700,000 viewers watched all six episodes within a week of the box-set release, over a million within a fortnight[7](https://rts.org.uk/article/lennie-james-taking-television-new-places) |
| Awards | RTS Award for Best Drama Series; BAFTA Best Series 2021 for Save Me Too[8](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/print/pdf/node/11691) • [3](https://spotlight-cmsmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/media/2784/the-spotlight-prize-programme-2021_final-proof.pdf) |
## Premise and characters
The story centers on Nelson "Nelly" Rowe (Lennie James), described by James himself as a womanizing south-east London deadbeat whose "day starts with his first can and ends with his last pint"[9](https://www.tvguide.com/news/lennie-james-save-me-starz-interview/). At the start of the first series, Nelly is taken from his bed to a police station and told that his estranged 13-year-old daughter Jody has gone missing; she left behind a video telling her mother, Claire ([Suranne Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/suranne-jones)), that she was going to meet her dad[10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/save-me-too-review-sky-lennie-james-stephen-graham-a9440681.html). Nelly is the first to be accused of abducting her, and his search draws him into a journey toward becoming a better man and redeeming his past mistakes[2](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/save-me/umc.cmc.2txtooe313iqqr6rxsky3jcpt).
The supporting cast includes [Stephen Graham](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-graham) as Melon, a convicted sex offender for whom the first series drew both sympathy and revulsion from critics, and Camilla Beeput as Nelly's almost-girlfriend[11](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/critic-reviews/). Daniel Adegboyega, Shaquille Ali-Yebuah, Alexander Arnold, and Olive Gray also appear[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018). Nick Murphy directed the series[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018).
## Production
Save Me was made by World Productions, the company behind *Line of Duty*, with Simon Heath as executive producer alongside Jessica Sykes, Lizzie Gray, and Lennie James[2](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/save-me/umc.cmc.2txtooe313iqqr6rxsky3jcpt) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018). The screenwriting credits list James with Marlon Smith and Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018). James has said that although he was allowing television to treat the story as a thriller, he wanted to tell it "in a place of reality"[7](https://rts.org.uk/article/lennie-james-taking-television-new-places).
The series was filmed in late 2016 and early 2017, during the hiatus between Seasons 7 and 8 of *The Walking Dead*, in which James also appears; he said he had not worked as hard on any production in a long time[9](https://www.tvguide.com/news/lennie-james-save-me-starz-interview/).
## Reception and viewership
**Audience response.** Sky released the first series as a full box set on the last day of February 2018. Within a week, 700,000 viewers had watched all six episodes, and within a fortnight more than a million had done so, making it the most rapidly watched box-set release in Sky's history[7](https://rts.org.uk/article/lennie-james-taking-television-new-places) • [12](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cacbb42a568278dd5430feb/t/662bd1fdc9b37605e7bc0e59/1714147839436/2019%2BOliver%2Band%2BOhlbaum%2B-%2BCOBA%2B-%2BContent%2BReport.pdf). The Irish Independent's review called it "a blast of originality in a tired UK schedule dominated by largely mediocre thrillers"[13](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/tv-reviews/save-me-tv-review-a-blast-of-originality-in-a-tired-uk-schedule-dominated-by-largely-mediocre-thrillers/36657352.html).
**Critical scores.** On Metacritic, the series holds a Metascore of 89, labeled "universal acclaim", based on five critic reviews, all positive[11](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/critic-reviews/). Rotten Tomatoes lists an average Tomatometer of 100% and an average Popcornmeter (audience score) of 84%[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018). On IMDb the series rates 7.6/10 from about 7,100 users[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6538034).
## Save Me Too
The second series, retitled **Save Me Too**, picks up eighteen months after the end of the first[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/). Reviewers judged that the quality had not dropped: Anita Singh of The Telegraph gave it 100 and wrote that "James is superb"; The Guardian's Rebecca Nicholson called it "a gripping thriller" that "starts with the kind of bang that insists you pay attention"; and [The Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-times)' Carol Midgley predicted it would prove "one of the year's best-written dramas"[11](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/critic-reviews/). IndieWire's review of the finale described it as "both a logical endpoint and a pathway to continuing"[11](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/critic-reviews/).
Save Me Too was nominated for Best Drama Series at the 2021 RTS Programme Awards[14](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/imce/press_release_rts_programme_awards_entry.pdf) and won the BAFTA for Best Series in 2021[3](https://spotlight-cmsmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/media/2784/the-spotlight-prize-programme-2021_final-proof.pdf).
## Availability
In the United Kingdom the series streams on [Sky Go](https://www.edgepedia.org/sky-go) and Now TV, and can be bought on DVD[5](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/save-me). In the United States, the first series aired on Starz from 6 September 2018, and Save Me Too aired on Peacock in November 2020[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/).
## Other series of the same name
The title Save Me has been used by unrelated programs, including a 2013 American NBC comedy starring [Anne Heche](https://www.edgepedia.org/anne-heche) as a woman who gains a direct line to God after nearly choking to death[15](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me), and a 2017 Canadian web series that received Canadian Screen Award nominations[16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6536644/awards/). Neither is connected to the British drama.
## References
1. [Save Me (2018), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me_2018)
2. [Save Me, Apple TV (GB)](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/save-me/umc.cmc.2txtooe313iqqr6rxsky3jcpt)
3. [The Spotlight Prize Programme 2021](https://spotlight-cmsmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/media/2784/the-spotlight-prize-programme-2021_final-proof.pdf)
4. [Save Me (2018), Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/)
5. [Save Me, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/save-me)
6. [Save Me (TV Series 2018–2022), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6538034)
7. [Lennie James: taking television to new places, Royal Television Society](https://rts.org.uk/article/lennie-james-taking-television-new-places)
8. [World Productions press centre, ITV](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/print/pdf/node/11691)
9. [Fear the Walking Dead's Lennie James Shows a Different Side of Himself on Save Me, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/lennie-james-save-me-starz-interview/)
10. [Save Me Too review, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/save-me-too-review-sky-lennie-james-stephen-graham-a9440681.html)
11. [Save Me (2018) critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/save-me-2018/critic-reviews/)
12. [Content Report 2019: Multichannel investment in UK television, COBA](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cacbb42a568278dd5430feb/t/662bd1fdc9b37605e7bc0e59/1714147839436/2019%2BOliver%2Band%2BOhlbaum%2B-%2BCOBA%2B-%2BContent%2BReport.pdf)
13. [Save Me TV review, Irish Independent](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/tv-reviews/save-me-tv-review-a-blast-of-originality-in-a-tired-uk-schedule-dominated-by-largely-mediocre-thrillers/36657352.html)
14. [The RTS Programme Awards Categories](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/imce/press_release_rts_programme_awards_entry.pdf)
15. [Save Me (2013), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/save_me)
16. [Save Me (TV Series 2017) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6536644/awards/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Crime, police, and detective series › British and Irish crime series › Crime thrillers and gangster dramas*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license