# The Drowning (TV series)
**The Drowning** is a four-part British psychological thriller miniseries that premiered on Channel 5 from 1 to 4 February 2021, starring [Jill Halfpenny](https://www.edgepedia.org/jill-halfpenny) as a grieving mother who becomes convinced that a teenage stranger is her son, presumed drowned nine years earlier.[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-drowning-review-channel-5-jill-halfpenny-b1794674.html) • [2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html) It was created by Luke Watson and Francesca Brill, written with Tim Dynevor, and directed by Carolina Giammetta.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html) • [3](https://www.tellyvisions.org/acorn-tvs-drowning-melodramatic-wash-out/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Four-part limited series, episodes of about 45 minutes, TV-14, one season[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-drowning) |
| Original broadcast | Channel 5, 9 pm, 1–4 February 2021, episodes on consecutive nights[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html) |
| Premise | Jodie Walsh spots a teenager she believes is her son Tom, who vanished nine years earlier at a lake; no body was ever found[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-drowning-review-channel-5-jill-halfpenny-b1794674.html) |
| Lead cast | Jill Halfpenny (Jodie), Jonas Armstrong (Jason), Rupert Penry-Jones (Mark), Cody Molko (Daniel), Dara Devaney (Ben), Jade Anouka (Yasmin), Deborah Findlay (Lynn), Deirdre Mullins (Kate), Babs Olusanmokun (Ade)[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-drowning) |
| Production | Unstoppable Film and Television with Acorn TV[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11818430/companycredits/) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic metascore 73 (generally favorable); Rotten Tomatoes score of 80% as listed by JustWatch[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-drowning/critic-reviews/) • [4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-drowning) |
## Premise
The series opens with the event that defines it: on a family outing to a lake, Jodie's young son Tom disappears. The police conclude he drowned, sending divers into the lake, but no body is ever found, and the loss destroys the family.[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-drowning-review-channel-5-jill-halfpenny-b1794674.html) • [3](https://www.tellyvisions.org/acorn-tvs-drowning-melodramatic-wash-out/) Nine years later Jodie has not recovered. Her marriage to Ben has ended and he is now with her former best friend Kate; she is estranged from most of her relatives; her garden design business with her friend Yasmin is failing.[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-drowning-review-channel-5-jill-halfpenny-b1794674.html) • [2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html)
**The encounter.** On the way to a business pitch, Jodie sees a teenage boy, Daniel, on his way to school carrying a guitar, and becomes convinced he is Tom: he has Tom's curly hair and the same scar under his left eye. Neither the police, who think she is wasting their time, nor her ex-husband will credit her theory. Jodie then takes matters into her own hands, using fake documents to get a job as a music tutor at Daniel's school and ingratiating herself with his father, Mark, a wealthy and cagey widower.[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-drowning-review-channel-5-jill-halfpenny-b1794674.html) • [2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html) The drama turns on the "is he/isn't he" question, with the case left deliberately open: a couple was spotted near the lake who never came forward as witnesses, and the dredged lake produced no body.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html)
## Production and broadcast
The Drowning was produced by Unstoppable Film and [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television) with [Acorn TV](https://www.edgepedia.org/acorn-tv).[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11818430/companycredits/) It was created by Luke Watson and Francesca Brill, with Tim Dynevor, father of [Bridgerton](https://www.edgepedia.org/bridgerton) star Phoebe Dynevor, working on later episodes, and all four episodes directed by Carolina Giammetta.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html) • [3](https://www.tellyvisions.org/acorn-tvs-drowning-melodramatic-wash-out/) Channel 5 aired it at 9 pm on four consecutive nights beginning 1 February 2021, a scheduling choice the Evening Standard noted spared viewers long waits between cliffhangers.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html) The series formed part of Channel 5's push into scripted drama, which the Standard linked to money redirected after the channel axed Big Brother; the channel had won Channel of the Year at both the RTS Programme Awards and the Broadcast Awards in 2020.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html) • [7](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/television_mar21.pdf)
Cody Molko, who plays Daniel, is the son of [Placebo](https://www.edgepedia.org/placebo-band) lead singer [Brian Molko](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-molko), and the role was his screen debut.[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-drowning-review-channel-5-jill-halfpenny-b1794674.html)
## Reception
**Critical scores.** The series scored 73 on Metacritic, classified as generally favorable, with five positive, three mixed, and no negative reviews among the eight counted.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-drowning/critic-reviews/) [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) lists a Rotten Tomatoes score of 80% and an IMDb rating of 5.6.[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-drowning)
Reviewers consistently singled out Halfpenny's performance. Anita Singh of The Daily Telegraph gave it 4 of 5 stars, writing that Halfpenny plays Jodie as a woman who could equally be deluded by grief or bang on the money, while Penry-Jones's character is inscrutable.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-drowning/critic-reviews/) Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal called it a potent thriller despite somewhat uneven storytelling, crediting the cast.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_drowning/s01) Lucy Mangan of The Guardian, scoring it 80, praised its attention to the endurance of a bereaved parent's sorrow and its refusal to trade that authenticity for big dramatic gestures.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-drowning/critic-reviews/) The Guardian's review also noted that what lifts the show above its familiar parts, including Jodie's ex-husband and best friend becoming a couple and her difficult relationship with her mother, is the weight of sadness it carries.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/feb/01/the-drowning-review-mistaken-identity-or-a-shocking-mystery)
**Criticisms.** The most common complaint was plausibility. Ed Cumming of The Independent, scoring it 60, argued that the tension of the is-he/isn't-he question depends on a coherent world, and that the police response to a possible abduction and the convenience of the chance encounter felt like "TV land".[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-drowning-review-channel-5-jill-halfpenny-b1794674.html) Carol Midgley of The Times called it a "daft-as-a-brush" thriller whose impossible events viewers either accept or reject.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-drowning/critic-reviews/) Telly Visions, reviewing the Acorn TV release, found it derivative of [The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo) and [The Missing](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-missing-british-tv-series) without their emotional punch, while still crediting Halfpenny's intensity.[3](https://www.tellyvisions.org/acorn-tvs-drowning-melodramatic-wash-out/) The finale drew viewer complaints about plot holes, with The Independent reporting viewers calling it "absurd".[10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/news/the-drowning-finale-channel-5-explained-b1798055.html)
## Availability
In the United States the series can be streamed on Philo, AMC+ (including its Apple TV and Amazon channels), and Spectrum On Demand, or purchased on Amazon Video, the Apple TV Store, and Fandango At Home.[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-drowning) It has also been listed on Netflix in the United Kingdom, where it is cataloged as a British drama, mystery, and thriller limited series.[11](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81582211)
## References
1. [The Drowning review: Anyone in need of lockdown-busting good cheer ought to look elsewhere, Ed Cumming, The Independent (2021)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-drowning-review-channel-5-jill-halfpenny-b1794674.html)
2. [The Drowning on Channel 5 review, Katie Rosseinsky, London Evening Standard (2021)](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-drowning-channel-5-review-b918190.html)
3. [Acorn TV's 'The Drowning' is a Melodramatic Wash-Out, Janet Mullany, Telly Visions (2021)](https://www.tellyvisions.org/acorn-tvs-drowning-melodramatic-wash-out/)
4. [The Drowning (2021), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-drowning)
5. [The Drowning (TV Mini Series 2021) company credits, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11818430/companycredits/)
6. [The Drowning critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-drowning/critic-reviews/)
7. [Television, Royal Television Society, March 2021](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/television_mar21.pdf)
8. [The Drowning: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_drowning/s01)
9. [The Drowning review: mistaken identity – or a shocking mystery?, The Guardian (2021)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/feb/01/the-drowning-review-mistaken-identity-or-a-shocking-mystery)
10. [The Drowning viewers fume at 'absurd' series finale, The Independent (2021)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/news/the-drowning-finale-channel-5-explained-b1798055.html)
11. [Watch The Drowning, Netflix (UK)](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81582211)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Miniseries and anthology series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; 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