# The Feud (TV series)
**The Feud** is a six-part British domestic thriller television series that premiered on Channel 5 (branded simply as 5) on Monday 14 April 2025 at 9 pm, starring [Jill Halfpenny](https://www.edgepedia.org/jill-halfpenny) and [Rupert Penry-Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/rupert-penry-jones) as married neighbors whose ordinary suburban dispute escalates out of control.[1](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/the-feud-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know) It was created and written by Aschlin Ditta and directed by Andy De Emmony.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/) In the United States the series streams under the title **The Feud on Shelbury Drive** as an [Acorn TV](https://www.edgepedia.org/acorn-tv) exclusive.[3](https://images.amcnetworks.com/amcnetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/March-ATV-Calendar_FNL.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Six-part thriller on Channel 5 (5), stripped Monday to Wednesday at 9 pm over two weeks from 14 April 2025[1](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/the-feud-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know) |
| Lead cast | Jill Halfpenny as Emma Barnett; Rupert Penry-Jones as John Barnett[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/) |
| Supporting cast | Ray Fearon (Alan Spence), Amy Nuttall (Sonia Spence), Alex Macqueen (Nick Hewitt), James Fleet (Derek Abshire)[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/) |
| Production | Created and written by Aschlin Ditta; directed by Andy De Emmony; executive producers include Lesley Douglas and Paul Testar for Channel 5[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/) |
| US streaming | Released as *The Feud on Shelbury Drive*, an Acorn TV exclusive in the March 2026 schedule[3](https://images.amcnetworks.com/amcnetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/March-ATV-Calendar_FNL.pdf) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic Metascore of 54 (mixed or average) from four season-one reviews[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-feud-on-shelbury-drive/critic-reviews/?season=season-1) |
## Premise and cast
The series is set on an outwardly ordinary middle-class street, Shelbury Drive, where a run-of-the-mill dispute between neighbors escalates into a thriller. The Independent's survey of the Channel 5 thriller genre describes the setup as a mundane occurrence going drastically wrong, with secrets from the past emerging at precisely the wrong time and neighbors, family, and close friends all untrustworthy.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/channel-5-drama-netflix-love-rat-the-feud-b2760681.html) Subplots include a character catfishing Halfpenny's character's daughter to exact revenge, and another neighbor keeping the street under surveillance with long-distance binoculars; [Larry Lamb](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-lamb) is also among the cast.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/channel-5-drama-netflix-love-rat-the-feud-b2760681.html)
Jill Halfpenny, a stalwart of British soaps and a former [Strictly Come Dancing](https://www.edgepedia.org/strictly-come-dancing) champion, leads the cast as [Emma Barnett](https://www.edgepedia.org/emma-barnett), with Rupert Penry-Jones, formerly of *Spooks*, playing her on-screen husband [John Barnett](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-barnett).[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/channel-5-drama-netflix-love-rat-the-feud-b2760681.html) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/) It was the second time the two actors had starred together in a Channel 5 drama, after 2021's *The Drowning*.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/channel-5-drama-netflix-love-rat-the-feud-b2760681.html) The wider cast includes Ray Fearon as Alan Spence, Amy Nuttall as Sonia Spence, Alex Macqueen as Nick Hewitt, and James Fleet as Derek Abshire; Tessa Peake-Jones plays Barbara alongside Fleet's Derek.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/) • [1](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/the-feud-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know)
## Production and broadcast
Aschlin Ditta created the series and wrote five of the six episodes, with Andy De Emmony directing all six.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/) Lesley Douglas served as executive producer, with Paul Testar executive producing for Channel 5 and Simon Cox for Banijay Rights.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/) The series was made with the production company Lonesome Pine.[1](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/the-feud-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know)
Channel 5 aired the first three episodes on consecutive evenings from Monday 14 April 2025, with the remaining three stripped the following week, Monday to Wednesday.[1](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/the-feud-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know) In the United States, the series appeared on the March 2026 Acorn TV schedule as an exclusive under the title *The Feud on Shelbury Drive*.[3](https://images.amcnetworks.com/amcnetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/March-ATV-Calendar_FNL.pdf)
## Reception
The series received mixed reviews. On Metacritic it holds a season-one Metascore of 54, based on four critic reviews.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-feud-on-shelbury-drive/critic-reviews/?season=season-1) The Telegraph's Benji Wilson gave it 20 out of 100, writing that it "begins with a clichéd set-up and then compounds the error by telling the story in an entirely hackneyed manner"; the review's one-star verdict produced the genre's most-quoted line, "essentially Abigail's Party Wall Agreement".[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-feud-on-shelbury-drive/critic-reviews/?season=season-1) • [5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/channel-5-drama-netflix-love-rat-the-feud-b2760681.html) More positive critics found the same qualities engaging: Decider's Joel Keller scored it 70, saying it does "a fine job of spinning what seems to be a small dispute into a thriller that anyone who has an issue with their neighbors can relate to", while Carol Midgley in [The Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-times) (60) wrote that it "harnesses the sheer toxicity of neighbour disputes that in real life can escalate into court cases, violence and worse".[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-feud-on-shelbury-drive/critic-reviews/?season=season-1)
## Place in the Channel 5 thriller genre
The Feud is an example of the domestic-thriller formula that Channel 5 has made a specialty since shifting its focus toward drama in the early 2020s, following hits such as *All Creatures Great and Small* (2020). These productions pair recognisable British television actors with schlocky, cliffhanger-heavy plots of the kind once associated with ITV, and Halfpenny has appeared in a whole crop of them for the channel, including *The Cuckoo* and *The Holiday*.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/channel-5-drama-netflix-love-rat-the-feud-b2760681.html) The series should not be confused with *[Feud](https://www.edgepedia.org/feud-tv-series)*, the American anthology series created by Ryan Murphy for FX, whose first season dramatized the [Bette Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/bette-davis) and [Joan Crawford](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-crawford) rivalry.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com//tv/feud)
## References
1. [The Feud: release date, cast, plot, interviews, trailer, first looks and everything you need to know, What to Watch](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/the-feud-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know)
2. [The Feud (TV Series 2025– ) – Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32475225/fullcredits/)
3. [The Feud on Shelbury Drive – Acorn TV March 2026 schedule (AMC Networks)](https://images.amcnetworks.com/amcnetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/March-ATV-Calendar_FNL.pdf)
4. [The Feud on Shelbury Drive – Season 1 Critic Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-feud-on-shelbury-drive/critic-reviews/?season=season-1)
5. [How Channel 5's dodgy thrillers became our ultimate TV guilty pleasure, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/channel-5-drama-netflix-love-rat-the-feud-b2760681.html)
6. [Feud – Series Info, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com//tv/feud)
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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 › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Family and relationship drama › Soap operas and melodrama*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: 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